This weeks dudes are brought to you by the letter K. In it’s attempts to usurp the letter C it has taken to social media and what better way to start than in a 2 Dudes that sets the record for replacing C’s with K’s.
Once again for newbies dude is a gender-less concept, just like the bathrooms at the new Milwaukee Bucks Arena. In fact maybe I should talk to the Bucks about Gender-less bathrooms brought to you by 2 Dudes. Maybe not.
Kristina Koslosky
Last week I went to a Freelancers Union meeting in Madison at the suggestion of this week’s first Dude. Kristina Koslosky was right on. The Freelancers Union is a great place to meet other people who are going on their own. I enjoyed it so much that Kristina and I met Tuesday to discuss starting one closer to home. We are not ready yet to announce the name as it may have to be city related. We are struggling with that concept because it is not inclusive enough for our vision. Watch my blog or LinkedIn feed as we will be announcing the final name and other details there.
Kristina is a freelance web designer and digital marketing genius who I met several weeks ago through Alignable. If you don’t know what Alignable is think LinkedIn with a location focus. Alignable notifies you when new companies are created in your area. Honestly I think LinkedIn is a better networking tool but I give Alignable about 15 minutes a week and it has given me a couple of valuable contacts. Kristina has not read “Book Yourself Solid”, however she has the best red velvet rope policy I have seen yet. She is particular about who her clients are but in doing so she does excellent work at an excellent price. If you are interested in wondering how someone can do web design and digital marketing work for such a great price reach out to Kristina.
Erik Richardson
A few weeks ago a connection request from a UPAF Development Director showed up in my inbox. I did not think much of it because this 2 Dudes thing is getting noticed. Last week at the Waukesha County Business Alliance AMP breakfast, I sat with Erik Richardson. We agreed to have a coffee this week.
As of this week I have had exactly four kagillion fourteen coffees since I started my company. For those of you unfamiliar with kagillions it is an order of magnitude bigger than a bazillion. My coffee with Erik was a one percenter. We talked about so many different things that I think we could have talked all day. So why would an IT guy and an Non-profit arts guy hit it off so well. Part of it is my kids were violinists. One was even in MYSO. Part of it is he has a fascinating view of what we need to improve in the education system. His learning to learn theory is one of the things I have been trying to get my arms around in business. Part of it is he is a big time numbers geek. I think the big thing is when I meet a unichameleon I want to talk to them for a while.
What on earth is a unichameleon? A unichameleon is a rare cross breed of a unicorn and a chameleon. Imagine a unicorn that changes color to match it’s surroundings. Those of you who know my “Cliff Claven” leaning know that I can pretty much talk to anyone about anything and sound equally stupid about all of it. Erik is sort of the same only he is very intelligent with his discussion topics. He gave me so many ideas for my company in that session that I will be busy for weeks trying to get them all off the ground.
The New Top Twenty Program
Since I am an adequate net-worker I asked Erik how I could help him. Of course my helping him turn into him actually still trying to help me. He introduced me to “The New Top Twenty Program.” This program includes a very diverse set of small companies who are new to giving to UPAF. Diverse means everything from Monkey Bar Gym to HNI Risk Services. Erik did not have to work very hard convince me. I have seen first hand how having a thriving art community is a key to a cities survival. I can not count how many JCI executives that were very nervous about coming to Milwaukee and wearing cheese-heads and drinking beer. Those same executives would never think of leaving now based solely on the fact that there is such a huge arts community here. My next goal is to implement enough of Erik’s ideas that I can join this exciting new program.
Thank You
Thanks for taking the time to read 2 Dudes. Sign up for a coffee with me if you want to be a dude or want to learn more about this weeks dudes.
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