The Greatest Moment in the History of Lotusphere
Benjamin
Zander is one of the most incredible
human beings on earth. When I first saw his presentation at the TED.com
site, I wept from the first minute until 10 minutes after it had ended.
So you can imagine my elation when on Wednesday night in Orlando,
I step forward on to an elevator that he was walking out of. When
I realized who I'd just seen, I absolutely exploded. Thanks to a
bit of perseverance by my colleague Spanky,
I was able to track him down in an empty rehearsal room as he prepared
for his Closing Session presentation. As I approached, one of his
teammates...
"Can I help you?"
Me: "I would just like to spend a moment telling Maestro Zander what a huge fan of him I am."
Zander: "Oh I'd quite like to hear that!"
"I saw your presentation from TED. It was incredible. I cried the entire way through. I can't WAIT to see what you do tomorrow."
"HA! If they had sent you down here from Central Casting you could not have said anything more perfect! We were just discussing the presentation for tomorrow."
"Well, as I will be a room full of colleagues, competitors and customers, I hope you won't make me weep uncontrollably."
"How about if we try to make you laugh as much as you cried before?"
"That sounds perfect."
Then we exchanged one of the warmest handshakes of my whole life, and I left them to their efforts; walking out of the room on cloud nine.
But that was not the greatest moment in the history of Lotusphere.
The next day, as we went to the closing session, I had the stunning good fortune to get a seat on the front row -- TWO SEATS AWAY from the Maestro. He remembered me instantly (even without the yellow hair) and we shook hands again and smiled and his eyes shone in anticipation of what was to come.
After Bob Picciano kicked off the session, he came and sat between Zander and me. As he took his chair, Zander gestured back at me:
"This man is very very passionate."
Bob: "Oh yes, we know."
But STILL, that was not the greatest moment in the history of Lotusphere. Not even for me personally.
The greatest moment in the history of Lotusphere is this -- captured on a cell phone camera by my friend and colleague Tim Tripcony.
3000 yellow bleeders directed by the Conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra singing IN GERMAN, the greatest piece of music ever written: Ludwig von Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D Minor.
I am not the same person that I was before I walked into that hall on Thursday. If you were there, I bet you aren't either.
Thank you, dear maestro. Thank you.
(And thank you Kevin, Sandra, Bob and Brent... who accepted my enthusiasm for what was to come without question and accommodated me with such grace.)
"Can I help you?"
Me: "I would just like to spend a moment telling Maestro Zander what a huge fan of him I am."
Zander: "Oh I'd quite like to hear that!"
"I saw your presentation from TED. It was incredible. I cried the entire way through. I can't WAIT to see what you do tomorrow."
"HA! If they had sent you down here from Central Casting you could not have said anything more perfect! We were just discussing the presentation for tomorrow."
"Well, as I will be a room full of colleagues, competitors and customers, I hope you won't make me weep uncontrollably."
"How about if we try to make you laugh as much as you cried before?"
"That sounds perfect."
Then we exchanged one of the warmest handshakes of my whole life, and I left them to their efforts; walking out of the room on cloud nine.
But that was not the greatest moment in the history of Lotusphere.
The next day, as we went to the closing session, I had the stunning good fortune to get a seat on the front row -- TWO SEATS AWAY from the Maestro. He remembered me instantly (even without the yellow hair) and we shook hands again and smiled and his eyes shone in anticipation of what was to come.
After Bob Picciano kicked off the session, he came and sat between Zander and me. As he took his chair, Zander gestured back at me:
"This man is very very passionate."
Bob: "Oh yes, we know."
But STILL, that was not the greatest moment in the history of Lotusphere. Not even for me personally.
The greatest moment in the history of Lotusphere is this -- captured on a cell phone camera by my friend and colleague Tim Tripcony.
3000 yellow bleeders directed by the Conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra singing IN GERMAN, the greatest piece of music ever written: Ludwig von Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D Minor.
I am not the same person that I was before I walked into that hall on Thursday. If you were there, I bet you aren't either.
Thank you, dear maestro. Thank you.
(And thank you Kevin, Sandra, Bob and Brent... who accepted my enthusiasm for what was to come without question and accommodated me with such grace.)
Comments
{ Link }
Posted by Suzanne Minassian At 01:30:40 PM On 01/26/2009 |
He's an amazing speaker and I can tell that you were truly moved (as was I) by his presentation! I haven't seen any of the TED stuff and didn't know who he was. But I think this session will definitely be one that is remembered for years by all who attended (except the cyborgs, of course)! The principles have applications for everyone - including all of us employed by Lotus!
I'm glad that you were able to spend a few moments with him the night before as well as being able to be right there up front!
Posted by Chris Whisonant At 12:57:42 PM On 01/26/2009 |
Posted by Kevin Pettitt At 04:07:15 PM On 01/23/2009 |
Chris
Posted by Chris Reckling At 05:07:02 PM On 01/23/2009 |
Posted by Nathan T. Freeman At 07:40:47 AM On 01/24/2009 |
Posted by Nathan T. Freeman At 11:52:45 PM On 01/23/2009 |
Posted by Keil Wilson At 05:55:33 PM On 01/23/2009 |
Posted by Dave Harris At 10:27:21 AM On 01/26/2009 |
I hold the performance of mr. Zander to be one of the absolute top experiences of all the spheres I've been to. It was - fascinating :)
Posted by Bjorn H Thomassen At 05:17:18 PM On 02/07/2009 |
Only sad point is Mr. Zander getting the video removed from YouTube.
Posted by Lars Olufsen At 10:04:04 AM On 02/24/2009 |