My Blog

Work Washed woefulness and the history of conversation

kevinleversee — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:28:35 GMT

OMG! For REALS. I hate tweets that start like this. So I started a blog. Interesting, Tribe.net was at one time one of the first social networks started by Marc Pincus who I am proud to say seems to be doing quite well with his new Software Company named after his dog. Its funny as I logged back into Tribe today its been almost a year= and before that it was two years as I was kidnapped in Manila and held against my will for 22 months and ten days. Its interesting to see the evolution of everything, interesting to see how innovative tribe really was= and I am sad that for all its brilliance it never really took off. I have a few theories most of which stem around FOCUS. As my great mate Scott Farrell of IC Consulting says- be a cheese knife not a swiss army knife. here is to the next year, here is to Tribe, and all the others with innovation, disruption in their blood

Waking up surrounded by pussy

kevinleversee — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:08:16 GMT

Manila is hot, the humidity is stifling at times...So yesterday full of meetings and cross city travel was a hell day for me. I am not certain if anyone knows what it is like to do a startup, this will be my third (like I have been involved in more but only 3 where its all my time) Anyway besides being at the bottom rungs of maslows hierarchy of needs the energy is unrelenting. I had phenomenal breakfast of bangus(a fish), garlic rice, salad and egg during a meeting at 8am the morning (after a Bible Study I went to ended like at 1am) so I got like a few hours of sleep. So anyway lost the train of thought...I had a meeting at 8am, then a long hard core discovery meeting with investor group at 11am then finished at 2pm for a quick lunch consisting of a chocolate chip cookie. Then the hour drive through the worst traffic in Manila to go to an appointment in Malate...then all the way back through that insane traffic to my house for a shower at 5pm (sweating through dress shirts in tropical heat) then a meeting at 6pm, then another at 8pm then another at 10pm finishing the whole day at 12:00am. Long day. so worthwhile. Makes me happy to be alive. My business partners faith in me is refreshing- and fuels me. So anyway I had a three ice cold beers with my advisor taking myself home about 1:30am. No big deal. Now here is where it gets interesting. I was tired. The apartment was hot, since only I and my friend Hans live alone I enjoy my bachelor hood. So when walking up the stairs I realised I better just take my clothes off and so I did and turned on the fan (A very Big one) on high and so as I do I fell asleep naked. This morning I was awoken by my roommate Hans kicking my foot laughing very loud... MEW, MEW MEW! "DUDE WHAT THE HELL!" I awoke to all the meows. And realised the cat was sleeping with me, worse she had picked up all her kittens (now a week old) and carried each kitten up the stairs one by one, and put them again one by one in my bed. So we have a naked very tired man with a kitten on his chest, (thankfully a pillow squashed in between my nether region) two kittens squirming all over and a fourth suckling away on mama cat who was looking at me with big ol eyes purring. GREAT. Then he tells me "Yea Bro you should see the pictures I took!"

My Personal Commitment

kevinleversee — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 03:19:13 GMT

I wrote this for the project I am working on and thought it was cool and so I am sharing it. Integrity The big things start with the small and simple things. I will be impeccable with my word. I will hold each person accountable for the things they say. If I have no integrity on the small things such as my personal interaction, I will never be able to hold others accountable on the larger things. Unconditional Responsibility I will take unconditional responsibility for my life. I see myself as a participant, a central character, one who has directly contributed to the current situation and therefore directly affect its future. I have response-ability: The ability to choose to respond to any situation. I choose my thoughts, my attitudes and the behavior that manifests. I will never shift accountability to a third party or a force out of my control. I realize that if I want to be part of the solution I must also see myself as a contributor to the problem, if I cannot see my accountability to a situation I can not change it. I realize that there are external forces beyond my control; I take these neither as blessings or curses merely as a challenge to overcome. Execution Execution requires discipline. Humility I accept that I do not see things as they are, but as I am. I will always question the validity of my own perspective and opinion. I do not possess "The Truth" but merely my truth which is only my perspective and I hold my peers perspective just as valid. I realize there are many ways to look at the world and each has its own bright and blind spots. Only from the perspective of openness and humility can I hold the diversity to be more inclusive. .. .. This is my commitment, I will be impeccable with my word; take unconditional responsibility, execute, remain humble and I will hold others accountable for their commitment._____________________

Stop Web 2.0

kevinleversee — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 11:04:22 GMT

1. The internet is dead. Really... read that again. Cyberspace doesn't exist. Really. The internet is no longer something you LOG INTO or DIAL into. It is in your mobile phone, it is in your PDA, it is in your microwave, it is in your car. The internet ... it is all around us. The internet is no longer some place, no longer a place of places. The internet is a sea of conversations that is navigated by search. Everything is simple: conversations and search. Everything. People don't say radio or television is some "other place or space." They just accept the fact that, on certain frequencies, information is transmitted that is reproduced using technology called a television. Internet Protocol is the same thing. The meme that there even is a cyberspace is several years post mortem... 2. STOP WEB 2.0 Stop it. We already have an internet. Look at fact: Tim Berners Lee - the inventor of the web as we know it, the Gutenberg of our time. His science project now has 1 billion users around the world. And they are using the internet, not Web 2.0. Surprisingly a lot of the 1 billion of these early adopters serve their interests within their own various cultures using the Web - the internet as a tool, not a place. Web 2.0 started as a good idea. That idea has had its day. Good little dog. Now go away. The importance we know was the focus on open development standards letting websites share information much more easily and the breaking down the Berlin-Walled gardens of information and syndicating. And even with all the new ways to do it, this is not about the technology. The ClueTrain Manifesto let us understand markets are conversations. Blogging exploded on the scene showing these conversations have power. Blogging takes conversations and makes them permanent, indexible, and archivable. Each human has a voice, by blogging the different voices now can be harnessesed. Thus the internet itself is now a large knowledge management databasea sea of conversations. Google has shown us the importance of Search for data and information. Technorati shows us the importance of searching and sifting through conversations. When one starts reading the work of John Seely Brown...we see that show the world operates more by social sciences than through technology. The social sciences are sometimes criticized as being less scientific than the natural sciences but that is okay too because... 3. Technology is the enabler of business not its purpose. Let us talk about the lowercase semantic web. Our effort is called The Leviticus Project. We believe these things: 1. Use what we have. No need to build a whole new Web. 2. The user is the center of everything. 3. User's thoughts are the root of everything. After thought you have action. The action has Intent. 4. The path of the Action (usually a search) is the Desire Line or cow path. 5. People only have one face- they should have the choice of only one secure id that THEY own. Not a government, not Microsoft, not Yahoo and no, not even Google. 6. The users own their information and their social network is private and you don't own it, you only get to have access to use or what they allow you too. 7. The users social network is theirs attached to their secure digital ID. They can add this to any YASN or tool; this does not mean you have the right to those relationships. 8. Support open standards. 9. Get rid of walled information gardens. 10. Stop Web 2.0. Stop it. We already have an internet. Just our two pesos.

Manila- long days hot nights typhoons and the rest

kevinleversee — Sat, 13 May 2006 08:39:13 GMT

been so busy \ been so lonely- don't laugh- seems those you are about are often the hardest to talk too when overseas. that and i am forever a romantic- and chasing that I guess which is on far away seas and lands. this has been a growth period forme... I amnow as I write this sitting out typhoon

Pandora Squared, Manila, San Francisco, Sydney and a City near you

kevinleversee — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 11:18:11 GMT

Holy crap I am busy. Been Setting Up Fight Clubs...

Why it is GOOD to FAIL

kevinleversee — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 18:21:56 GMT

PICTURE TITLE : 12:01am Wack-a-Mole! Hunting Bugs in Software How will Pandora Squared be successful? * It is not our shiny products as they can rust * It is not our technology as that can be copied * It is not our people because they can leave * It is not our passionate clients because they can fire us… * The key to Pandora Squared’ success will be our ability to listen to the market and have agile processes in place to meet its ever changing needs. One of the things I often notice is that very few people blog about their mistakes, or the problems and issues facing them. I mean some do, don’t get me wrong but a lot of corporate or innovation blogs talk about the good stuff all the time. Well, I don’t know if it’s good to not fail. I mean I want to hear about your failures too, what can’t you get right? What can’t we? How can we help each other? I want to highlight something of a failure and turn it into a positive! I think it may be a strength that we acknowledge our own struggles? Right now it is late; I don’t want to be blogging about administration BS stuff like email, new servers, ruby on rails testing on our applications that are having yucky embarrassing errors when people play with their profiles… But it is true we are a global company of young passionate (sometimes I think we have to be starting some sort of cult) geeks. Right now we are testing our new mail server… its 11:30pm, their isn’t anyone else to call its us three. Well I mean we could wake up, never mind. Where is Hunter? Hunter is no longer on IM. Ok it testing applications and logging the errors in TRAC time. </ rambling> The benefit of our failing may perhaps be something pretty impressive when you think about it…We have teams on three continents. We are 100% bootstrapped and our support process is all done via VOIP, IM, TRAC and our self made software like our engine and wikis. We eat our own dog food. (Dolphin safe Tuna for those asking) The benefit? When our customer needs something we know how to take care of it. We use off the shelf cool stuff, or our own technology. And we are finding no matter what the problem, technical glitch or hurdle, by FAILING, we only learn. I remember reading the Talent Myth by Malcolm Gladwell. Wonderful little document that what I found important was the concept that companies that celebrated intelligent people propped up the ego. Soon they built an ego centric culture that could not fail. So no one did fail, everything was whitewashed and foolish; soon the emperor wore no clothes. Today you can still hear that strange howl in the wind when a previous Enron employee speaks of the amazing talent they had amassed… We are doing today what a lot of other people are talking about, blogs, remote teams on a budget, paperless office, mobile internet and mobile social software. Ok, some of our stuff still doesn’t work good enough to give to the world; (grumble) it works good enough for us internally… I can not wait to see where the next 6 months take us. TAGS: phpvsruby, web 2.0 business social employees, ruby vs php syntax,Viral Boosts YouTube Traffic, rubyonrails, Ajax, PHP

what I have learned in 2005

kevinleversee — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 07:34:51 GMT

Every year I take time out and reflect on the ten things I have learned the previous year. This is what I have learned in 2004. What I have learned in 2004 1) Of everything I have ever known and done, I have found that consistency with character and persistence are the most important qualities I can exude. 2) I must take time out for myself. 3) Even in my darkest hour, God is with me. 4) A few days of rest does wonders for all of my life. 5) I have a few true wonderful friends, and I miss and love em a lot. 6) Thoughts are the things that begin everything, by me controlling my thoughts I can then control the rest of my life. 7) To ask others to do anything I must first be willing to do it myself. 8) Disciplined thought, disciplined action, there is really something about my old Uncle getting up every day at 4am and running a couple of miles… 9) I have a finite amount of time, its up to me to organize how I spend it. 10) Happiness is not just a passing emotion, its something I can work and strive for. What I have learned in 2005 1) Character is Destiny. 2) Trust your Gut, and then get everything in writing. 3) The term Angel Investor can have two meanings. 4) Never mix love and business 5) When in doubt about something, action is better than waiting for better solution. 6) Worry only about the stuff you can change, even when everything seems to have hit the fan, you can only do what you can do, so don’t worry about things you have no control over. 7) Trying to live a life of purpose means planning, following up on those plans and having people challenge you on missing your targets, whether physically, financially or spiritually. 8) Even in my darkest hour God is with me. 9) Laugh, and remember how to play. 10) Take time out for yourself. 11) Share, give and be generous. 12) Pull the weeds and prune your life. 13) Its okay if you don’t know exactly where you are headed, no one else does either. 14) We are all just doing the best we can. 15) I still need to learn to let go.

Pandora Squared Announces P2 Genesis Social Software Engine

kevinleversee — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 04:53:54 GMT

Hey I worked a long time to get something this cool to market: http://www.pandorasquared.com/articles/2005/12/30/pandora-squared-announces-p2-genesis-social-software-and-content-management-system Milpitas, California- 29 December 2005 – Pandora Squared today announced the release of P2 Genesis Engine® 2.2. The P2 Genesis Engine is a Ruby on Rails/AJAX Social Software and Content Management System. P2 Genesis Engine enables business to embrace social software and Web 2.0 philosophies and tools. P2 Genesis Engine has a core, which supports pluggable modules that enable additional functionality. The modules available for P2 Genesis Engine provide a wide assortment of features including: * FOAF (Friend of a Friend networks), * blogs, * forums, * email, IM, * Picture uploading, * Workflow and document sharing, * Flickr integration, * del.icio.us integration, * e-commerce module and workflow, * mailing list management. http://static.flickr.com/43/79161205_0bb5c5a036.jpg?v=0 Drag and Drop Networks on the Fly http://static.flickr.com/38/79161206_6cb432d88c.jpg?v=0 User Profile http://static.flickr.com/37/79161207_bbea4efb54.jpg?v=0 Content Management System http://static.flickr.com/37/79161208_b57ea9e3c9.jpg?v=0 Example for media P2 Genesis Engine’s Folksonomy versus taxonomy/classification module is especially interesting, in that it allows any content to be classified with a flexible tagging system. Some of the more special roles that P2 Genesis Engine has filled include company intranets, Knowledge Management and Assessment (Skillsview), Classifieds and e-learning (myBennu), art communities and project management. P2 Genesis Engine’s focus on user control and seamless functions through AJAX is what makes a rich clean seamless user experience. P2 Genesis Engine 2.2 is a major update with the following main new features: o P2 Genesis Engine Blogs o P2 Genesis Forums with Whispers o User profiles and member management o Photo and media uploading o Email and IM o Group Mail and mail management o Knowledge management engine, o Folksonomy information architecture o User defined custom Friend of a Friend Networks o User or Admin defined profile and content security o del.icio.us and Flickr integration o Ruby on Rails, MySQL, AJAX “The P2 Genesis Engine is currently available only to Catalyst Clients of Pandora Squared.” Citing “Technology is the enabler of business not its purpose,” Kevin Leversee Co-Founder and Chief Courage Officer of Pandora Squared a Web 2.0 and business consultancy goes on to say “The Social Web is changing media, marketing, politics and culture. We are not the only one’s who realise this so we aim with our cluetrain philosophy and agile software development to be a pivitol player supporting existing communities of interest, organizations or events. We are not out to create YASN’s but real tangible value and grow business using technologies and methodologies that are proven.” Pandora Squared is a Web 2.0 and business consultancy, we enable communication with your customers and within your organisation, making visible the invisible markets and conversations that are occurring today. Contact us today for a free conversation and needs analysis. info@pandorasquared.com We love what we do. Asia and Pacific: Sydney, North America: San Jose, Central America: Belize Pandora Squared » helps you increase and globally expand your business. We deliver agile solutions that enable communication with your customers and within your organisation. Pandora Squared, P2 Genesis Engine, Skillsview, mybennu and Catalyst Copyright © 2005 Aphrodite Inc. All Rights Reserved.

I'm in Nor Cal for Pandora Squared opening San Jose Office

kevinleversee — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 21:09:40 GMT

Hey fellow social software experts and marketers and entreprenuers...I am in Northern California on an ever tightening schedule so feel free to contact me for a coffee and a chat. I want to network in person to see what your up too and talk of synergies. We may be needing more people soon too!

Australia doesn't celebrate halloween thank God

kevinleversee — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 09:49:09 GMT

But they do have Melbourne Cup... let me tell you how it works... You work half a day, you go to the pub at noon, you drink beer and eat and bet on horses. Add to that you are networking with colleagues. yea it is a great thing!

Hey singer looking for a Band in Sydney

kevinleversee — Sun, 23 Oct 2005 06:00:45 GMT

hey I am looking to sing in a band. I have been in 4 bands from punk/hardcore to emo/rock email me at kleversee at gmail.com

MEDIA: The Value Proposition for Web 2.0

kevinleversee — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 14:12:11 GMT

THE WEB 2.0 VALUE PROPOSITION We are social beings. The need to connect and communicate is inherent to our human nature. Social Software is simply technologies that enable interaction and communication. Social Software is a large construct of Web 2.0 business. The social software convergence is the combining of existing mediums with technology enablers. Thus, allowing users the capacity of vision to interact with each other and the corporation. 1+n or 1 conversation x number of those in network = value Traditional media follows Sarnoff’s law where you have one conversation out to a network of readers. Think of any magazine, newspaper, radio and television. To increase the value of this network you must increase the signal or distribution and hope that translates into more readers. This command and control structure for information delivery to a network of readers has not changed since the formation of the printing press! 1+n2 or 1 conversation + number of those in network squared = value Web 2.0 and Social software enabled media follows Metcalfs law of networking. By enabling your network to see each other and converse, the value of your network is exponentially bigger. This is very similar to how eBay works, it takes the many to many aspect of the internet and capitolizes on it. What I call Zed to the Power of n is based on reeds law, the math is too much to be discussed here. Something even more exciting is the power of allowing your network to form groups, self administer the content, and even form their own taxonomy structure for information. These additional philosophies correctly applied with technology enablers are even more powerful ways you can enable your network. Funny these powerful enabled networks are exactly what a lot of companies and media is fighting. A WEB 2.0 VALUE PROPOSITION FOR MEDIA My view on a success formula, marriage of traditional media with social software…' Many magazine sites have turned to blogging and open media- Fast Company; one of the first to incorporate blogs with user feedback. Slashdot; one of the firsts with user moderation, and sites such as Alwayson-Network pushed the envelope in what was once considered one way journalism. What is the business purpose of all of this? Here are just a couple. Intercast or user generated media sites grow much faster in traffic and content than traditional media with little or no marketing spend. (think $ as your adwords grows) User generated content enjoys an 8 to 1 rate of click through on search results versus paid for search corporate media results. The ability to customize advertising, and products and services around your users increases dramatically. But you also need....Context and purpose You have to have context and a purpose for social networks to work. Just building forums, or adding blogs won’t build a successful community. It isn’t the technology that is the secret, it is the successful marriage of technology and community. Technology is an enabler of business not its purpose. This amalgamation of traditional media knowledge with new tools and technology experience allows you to attach value proposition to each user’s individual desire line. Think about that a second. I also offer these compelling business issues: The competition for reader’s attention, as well as corresponding advertising revenues is threatened from emerging technologies such as blogs, RSS and other micro content. This emerging trend shifts the focus away from a specific medium such as a print or web content. The user then chooses whatever form that they wish to receive that content. The philosophy that emerging technologies do not replace one particular medium only adds too the overall mix, proving that a multi channel strategy must be adopted. Media organizations are exploring ways to diversify and successfully migrate these business units into these emerging technology mediums. You need to offer solid business philosophies, processes and technology enablers around the user allowing companies to better offer a multi channel approach. 1) Traditional media brands compete fiercely for reader’s attention. 2) New mediums cannibalize old ones for readership as well as ad dollars (Carnegie Report: Abandoning the News) 3) You have one customer, and must supply and own the market in these multiple channels. (THE Speech by Murdoch) 4) Established brands in one area do not mean that those brands can successfully work in another medium. Each medium is exceptionally different, what works in a magazine may not work in another magazine let alone in TV, Radio or the Web. TAKEN FROM WE THE MEDIA: Connections = Value Research suggests a simple proposition for media in the network economy: Connections equal value. There are three types of connections that media should consider: 1.Continuous 2. Network 3. Intercast -Kevin Leversee tags: web 2.0, social software, pandora squared

Business: The Value Prop for Web 2.0 continued from Media

kevinleversee — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 14:01:15 GMT

Evolution through communication…' This business philosophy with technology enablers allows you to reaching millions of markets of dozens versus a dozen markets of millions. What does this millions of markets of dozens mean, and how can it help your business? YES Damnit I am going to talk about the long tail…' Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine. wrote The Long Tail, which spelled out in detail why ecommerce sites such as Amazon and iTunes were so successful. The Internet allows companies the ability to sell the harder to find niche products as the constraints of physical shelf space and other bottlenecks of distribution are gone. Now narrowly-targeted goods and services can be as economically attractive as mainstream fare. Amazon and iTunes make most of their money not from blockbusters but from the hard to find or obscure. Someone out there just has to have the latest copy of Muskrat Love by Captain & Tennille…' Listen, just having everything online and availabe, buying the latest technology or becoming a business that blogs won’t do it. A lot of noise exists in the market today. The answer isn’t more advertising or the latest software. Whether you resell perishable consumer products such as cookies, dairy or durable goods such as Tires and AutoParts this Web 2.0 long tail meme pertains to you. Business is still business and the basic tenants of business is providing goods and services for an economic value. You are either making money or continuing to loose it. My philosophy As a technology enabler for your business I argue that Web 2.0 has little to do with the Internet and Technologies, but more or less a philosophy on doing business. biz intelligence + CRM + Open Systems and Social Software + long tail philosophy= Web 2.0 success. Did you know Kraft Foods distributes the third largest magazine in the United States? By using proven and sound business process every business can reach the millions of markets of dozens. Kraft uses customized publications, e-mail, direct mail, Web sites and call centers that are based on a common platform of consumer information. Their magazine Food and Families reaches millions of households, Kraft distributes the largest personalised magazine in the world. Companies such as Kraft are demonstrating that they can effectively and efficiently drive consumer behavior through two-way communications. Common underlying databases ensure that each interaction is personalized, regardless of the channel through which it occurs. And each interaction with the consumer builds the consumer database further, making future interactions even richer. You have one customer who is unique. Technology and business process around that customer enables your business. The implications of the information revolution for the role of brands in business are far-reaching. Many of the strategic and tactical tasks entrusted to brands can now be performed better, less expensively and more profitably at the level of consumer segments. Current brand centric thinking is outdated. No longer is it acceptable to focus only on how your business communicates to the market. The “market” is comprised of an aggregation of individuals who all have an individual voice, individual ideas, AND individual communication power. The market is: no longer a demographic, no longer easily lumped into marketing groups, no longer a percentage, The market is comprised of many individual human voices. The Cluetrain Manifesto is timeless: These markets are conversations. Their members communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine. It can't be faked. Most corporations, on the other hand, only know how to talk in the soothing, humorless monotone of the mission statement, marketing brochure, and your-call-is-important-to-us busy signal. Same old tone, same old lies. No wonder networked markets have no respect for companies unable or unwilling to speak as they do. –Cluetrain Manifesto Social Software enabled markets makes the invisible visible. Your business can communicate directly with Not TOO individuals who need your business. This is huge! This is some of the power behind the Web 2.0 meme. Your “position” is already establish, now go a step further, destroy the PR monster, and just talk…'human to human. Make a genuine approach with a genuine attitude…' …'and half the battle is already won. It is already happening. -Kevin Leversee

is Web 2.0 our personal Jesus?

kevinleversee — Sat, 08 Oct 2005 10:27:45 GMT

One of the things I enjoy more than Mexican food (none other than what I cook exists here in the Land of Oz) is the successful example of business and communication in action. The Web 2.0 meme and the others that predated it I believe are a fantastic thing. They show time and time again success. Whether you subscribe to Web 2.0 or not, quote it or not there is a fun yet powerful shift that has come to the Web. I don’t know about the rest of you but after 9/11 a few of us remaining in the dotcom or Web world were laid off. Was it exceptionally tough to find work for you too? (I ended up becoming an Entrepreneur, if I am unemployed and poor then shit lets create our own future) The rise of blogs, and YASN’s created a movement that we still are experiencing the early adopter syndrome. I remember speaking on this trying to sell work to potential clients or manifest investment and other seemingly intelligent people looking dumbstruck. With this rise of more and more media sources quoting this meme, it makes it easier for those of us who earn our living in this space to have reference. But…'it aint the technology folks. More or less I believe it is a shift in the way we think. Call it Cluetrain, or Permission based…'I have a long history in sales and marketing and now I see movement towards the fact that the user owns their own information and their own experience. Full stop. We now see the movement towards understanding people purchase for their own reasons not yours…' We have some projects that upon completion will showcase sound business methodology around successful Web 2.0 infrastructure. We had our kickoff BBQ and beers last night and Tim one of our ninja ruby developers said: “I have realized it isn’t Ajax, Ruby on Rails, or any of that it is it was the idea of using the internet to reinforce real-life relationships. I’ve been think about the importance of relationships to life, and it seems all the web 2.0 stuff is centered on enriching offline experiences by building networks of trust, appreciation and common interest. web 2.0 is not an ajax calculator, its http://upcoming.org, flickr, and those apps which enrich your life by creating and involving you in social networks.” So we all have our own concepts of this Web 2.0…' Perhaps it is kind of like a personal Jesus, we all have our own relationship with it, and it speaks to us on our own level. All in all I hope to usher this phase of business proudly. Stay tuned. -Kevin Leversee

The Awakening

kevinleversee — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 06:39:04 GMT

They say to me in their awakening, "You and the world you live in are but a grain of sand upon the infinite shore of an infinite sea." And in my dream I say to them, "I am the infinite sea, and all worlds are but grains of sand upon my shore." -Kahlil Gibran well we are so many steps into the new company. by the end of the week everything should be registered and kosher. It sure is easier once you have done it and made mistakes. We have clients and a projected outcome. It sure feels good to no longerr be bogged down with stakeholders wanting you to spend time on creating really big documents. I have been really enjoying the movement towards web 2.0 and social software being a large construct of it. I've been reading brilliant discussions on the evolution from business intelligence to business process, to CRM and ebusiness to today Web 2.0 and enabled COINs (Communities of Interest) The focus of the new business will be enabling these communities with tools, and helping organisations manifest business from them. Its really simple when you think about it... these COINS are everywhere, at your local RSL, Footy Club, proffesional user groups, industry associations and more... now we aim to provide a simple repeatable business methodology to implament the tools and biz process to farm them. In short making invisible markets visible to each other and orgs. In other news, I took off at noon, walked about an hour and sat reading white papers with my legs dangling over the cliffs at North Head Manly. Ahhhhhh spring!

Time to Kicketh Some Butteth

kevinleversee — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 00:29:55 GMT

Nothing says kick some butt like some time alone in new suroundings. I highly reccomend spending some time alone hashing out things. In my week here, I think I have slept for four days. Completely exhausted I crash landed here in Auckland about a week ago. I spent the time reconnecting to that which is most important to me. I love what we have done, I love the team we have, and I really love what we still want to do. They say when you aim at nothing you hit it every time, often times I see that it isn't that we are not aiming at something, it is just that in our own lives sometimes the goalposts changed on us. It is then when time apart from everything lets you refocus on where the new goal posts are. Both business and personal stuff tend to get in the way. Funny thing is sometimes we don't even realise it. I remember a couple weeks ago I was hiking with my mate and biz partner Hunter. It was through just walking that I realised I felt lost, and the primary reason was that my life had become a storm of activity, and very little of it was directed.

I was a man once that could hear...

kevinleversee — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 02:51:23 GMT

I was a man once, that sat along a day, past whispering words of old lovers and new songs from birds of paradise. Abstract she said wrestling with imagery and my cold fingers gripped the pencil, short stubbly the black lead pierced the atoms of wood and a new poem was in creation. The cat slinked by black hair and whiskers, I wrapped my cold feet up in his warm belly. My headache reminded me of too much wine my words told me why. Last night I sent seven letters to just one lover, drunk and meaningful then, today they are the sniffling ramblings of a dying man seeking salvation from a God he rejected long ago. All dying men know Jesus. All broken hearts know the wind, the secrets of trees and the songs of flight. Spring and with its rain shatters the reflected image of still pools. Birth and life and light which we don't see and the sounds we choose not to hear. Today I hear broken glass. Yesterday I heard the birds. Tomorrow I will hear the wind. -Kevin Leversee

Ferry Nights

kevinleversee — Tue, 23 Aug 2005 11:49:31 GMT

Its odd. I sit here on this ferry, you can hear the engines growling beneath you 4 stories of steel and humanity. In the distance the huge Harbour bridge swings across the black glimmering surface of the night. The whir escapes me and the white half domes defy gravity, cheers and jeers, but it isn’t these two things, it isn’t the boat, it isn’t Sydney it isn’t this night and the moon reflected off the water. Its something else. I have written many ideas of what this day has brought me, many constructed mountains of paper, hurt wrapped in dirty clothes. I often hewn stone wood to taste the other lover. The hair sighs sweet smelling distance carries my voice and dreams with it. I wonder if I could stand upon this deck and let the wind take my voice away. I wonder if you stand on the balcony listening to the wind bring whispers of my name. I wonder to many time in moments like these silly things and then I go around again. Like a sick deranged man swinging in the wind drunk on sour honey Work washed worried woeful wickedness and I sit here still remembering the sweetness. The sweetness midst the wondering warrior night, the wonderfulness mids the stupidity. And there are many boats upon this harbour. Slinking along black magic taunting a distant woman gossiping on a mobile. Voices hushed weary worn men, suits, prams and coughing sick passengers. The hulk of a ship does its duty and slinks along bringing be home. Or taking me away? We move past the boats, the ships, the private ocean going vessels. Spacecraft of a different time. Away from the heart away from my love away from the guilded distance. I want to blast off into nether worlds and regions where the emptiness of space can subdue the painful emptyiness of my heart. Maybe that meteor could take me? Maybe its glowing embers of that memory could escape my heart that night as we stood in a humid night drinking beer on the way to Byron. But despite my worrying, pondering late night screaming and chest beating matches. Despite my energy my words my heart and bloody fingers despite the emotion and oceans rolled thick with the memories and spirits of dead men. Despite all this we find ourselves or at least I do in the rooted rotten scum of disaster. Unhealthy actions beat loudly and we stupidly play fiddler to the other blaming again some other name for the trouble we only heaped upon ourselves. It was this it was that icky shit and sour notes. Jealousy doesn’t become you. Worryisome painful lonliness doesn’t me. And what about her? Him, the other, the anger and stupid thing you can’t release you hold the cards greedily you await to unwind me. Like a string like a sock like a mismatched token of desire This isn’t love I realize only a one upmanship of an angry woman in a hovel she quoted as her own. This isn’t love I sing as it becomes me reaching for the sand as the ocean springs it back. Jellyfish box nights wounded animal desire and she ate my heart and I stood there grinning like a stupid boy. Like a ewe stupid lamb to the slaughter I erase memories of your hurtfull words and the destruction you have caused on purpose. All because you can’t deal, can’t let go, can’t ease, can’t see me. The Holy scriptures say: Love Keep No record of wrongs. And this night air comes and gives me shivers, and all I want in the entire world is to erase all your pain, cuddle up and wake up to a bright new day.

two others lovers

kevinleversee — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 12:49:00 GMT

One day Sat two Others lovers. Who, Never understood the mechanism About parts in hearts In seas of millions Simply more or less aluminum foil green tea spoilt pajamas rent pilfered sleep they robbed the universe of its day rendering underwear and boxers useless (scorched earth rules farmed Desire…' …'somehow I finally understood Lust I lost it tho man in the hunger I drank & she drank then we drank ourselves full) laughing loud Sydney bitter water pressures stars fit nebulas- Southern crosses bite dreams. Oh! Silence the key to gold understanding! But amalgamation man stood searching for words of beauty of red earth dreams. of Red lights wailing sticky lost sleep Stolen passions dripped the thoughts Stuck on two others lovers now crumpled clothes in closets still whisper to the others about these two others lovers -for lily. Kevin

An angel by any other name, Parker Cole

kevinleversee — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 07:57:55 GMT

Life. At times it can be messy: bombs exploding, lost dreams, burning horizons, permafrost and melting polar caps. I have a son, and for his first three years I drove every weekend in massive traffic from San Jose to Sacramento. The planes hit towers and in the same breath my career in internet marketing went the way of the sad spirals of smoke. Soon I found myself manifesting a business in Australia and its too long to drive on the weekends. I received via email these pictures today, and in all this messy stuff life throws our way I smiled. Deeply I bite my lip, dig in and wait for the day I can do things like afford the airfare to see him every weekend. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinleversee/sets/591496/

Steve Jobs calls family of teenager killed for iPod

kevinleversee — Wed, 06 Jul 2005 07:13:32 GMT

http://livingtrends.blogspot.com/2005/07/steve-jobs-calls-family-of-teenager.html Steve Jobs calls family of teenager killed for iPod From Cnet As Errol Rose made preparations on Monday to bury his 15-year-old son, Christopher, who was killed last week in Brooklyn during a fight over an iPod, he received a telephone call from a stranger. The man spoke in tones that the grieving father said had momentarily quieted his anguish. The stranger, Rose soon learned, was Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple Computer, the company that makes the iPod. "I didn't know who he was," Rose said yesterday. "He called me on my cellphone, at 4 maybe. Or maybe it was 5." Rose said he had stopped noticing the passage of time since his son was killed. - It is easy for me and others to make comments on Apple and how many times they really do this or that and screw up. The biggest issue is that they are taking the once infamous tight knit counter culture brand and loosing it in a world of noise. But corporations are headed by people. Business is people doing business with people. Thank you Steve, stories like this strike close to home.

joy of life or the burnt offerings left on the alter

kevinleversee — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 02:12:37 GMT

1. So sad my soul wanders often too wanderlust Magic moments rent blind eyes to see More than me smiling fake tresses Dressed to ebb flow of energies Finds me dancing alone Staring at the walls Wondering what The hell Happened again -- 2. A swirl of misgivings Ice cream and late night pillow Promises kept me awake half past Dawn. The strange odors the odd clang Construction and pheromones Winter and liquor I've lost myself again Bled into more reflections Plush stuffed toys spy me greedily Licking their lips of malcontent, sex and slumber fall to the power and prowess of the moment I sat reflecting, yet- in my minds eye I still don't have the answers 3. Natural food recipes stole themselves "I HAVE GOT MORE TO WRITE!" She screamed. He, bit lip numbly nimbly tasting copper Acid, bile and the rest Distance themselves for the want of Another go. 4. whir whim wham nightrider tire burns pelted snow once too many times in the rain water was ice was the delicate snow bled itself dry on the fatal shore. Joy- to that vivre Folding watersheds and paper screens Hung in the balance While he pondered it all And God rolled his dice. -Kevin

I saw this...brilliant

kevinleversee — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 12:06:34 GMT

"Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer." —R.M. Rilke

I hate lines

kevinleversee — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 12:18:42 GMT

Hey, I sang out loud Long past midnight, embarrassing I felt like singing And I’m on the plane Looking at the plastic walls And all the little spaces Little holes, cracks and things Life is like that Some little spaces Have laughter and singing And others empty holes And cracks…' Here I am again in line past the wide-eyed zombies, bit lip turned dust and swollen eyes. My thoughts are a mix mash of airline cocktails, terrible food, beguiled sex with stewardesses imagining the James Bond of my youth. Sometimes these off kilter stolen moments when I am not a grown up but a world wary spy destined for thrills high speed and life saving hijinx. I feel like a little better than average, and I mutter I wonder if that is what all these other people are thinking about…' But they are not, he is staring at the Financial Review, she is on a mobile (which should be somehow against the law in lines), I mean shut up with all that hug hug kissy kissy I’m going to miss you crap. I don’t want to hear it. The sounds I long to hear stem from the previous day a hike on the peninsula the North Island way past Auckland. I’m teleported they’re smiling, looking at the South Pacific storms strewn with lightning bolts and drunken laughter. I follow some primordial hunger lust urge with the wind rushing through hair and branches. If only I could relive these thoughts at a whim, perhaps the lines in the airport or in life wouldn’t seem so massive. I am now a long way away from the customs line, a long way from the deadlines and push for financing. A long way into peace love and all that happiness shit. Dream big dreams they say, enough to grow into. For the moment I will loose myself in a mix of past blown wind and the erythematic pulsing of an angry ocean. Screw the lines…'-Kevin