lighten up - most of us are working with a few clowns short of circus
I initially though readers might look at this page to learn about the origins of the blog. But as time goes by, I wonder if many even bother to look at all and if they do maybe they are more interested in learning about my background. Most of the "me" stuff is here.
Blog origin
Back in 2006 our small (relative to others in the industry) group of 150 or so were planning big. Maybe too big?
We were going to fly internet access across the sky. Actually, we had already launched a lesser capable internet service called JetConnect that was based on our old system and was limited to dial-up speeds. It was on a few airlines and gave us experience but not much revenue.
But even back then, we knew there was a technology to provide broadband speed up to the plane and we partnered with the technology companies to get it done.
We had flown the prototypes on our small aircraft (fun night flights).
It worked.
Money had been spent and much more was scheduled to be spent. Of course it was at prototype stage and sure more development was planned.
But we were excited about the challenge.
One minor detail/milestone needed to be checked off - win the FCC auction. Of course, we would win because we were part of Verizon, the telecom giant. Oh I didn't mention this - we were Verizon Airfone.
Funny thing happened at the auction - we LOST.
What a shock. We knew our dream project was lost too. We also knew the jobs that depended on the project were lost too.
One day during those shocking rumor filled days, I laughed at seeing this phrase passed on to me by a co-worker.
We were going to fly internet access across the sky. Actually, we had already launched a lesser capable internet service called JetConnect that was based on our old system and was limited to dial-up speeds. It was on a few airlines and gave us experience but not much revenue.
But even back then, we knew there was a technology to provide broadband speed up to the plane and we partnered with the technology companies to get it done.
We had flown the prototypes on our small aircraft (fun night flights).
It worked.
Money had been spent and much more was scheduled to be spent. Of course it was at prototype stage and sure more development was planned.
But we were excited about the challenge.
One minor detail/milestone needed to be checked off - win the FCC auction. Of course, we would win because we were part of Verizon, the telecom giant. Oh I didn't mention this - we were Verizon Airfone.
Funny thing happened at the auction - we LOST.
What a shock. We knew our dream project was lost too. We also knew the jobs that depended on the project were lost too.
One day during those shocking rumor filled days, I laughed at seeing this phrase passed on to me by a co-worker.
" A few clowns short of a circus, now aren't we?"
I thought we should have blog for common support to help each other get through this lay-off. I had done some blogging (my daughter got me started) and thought this phrase made a great title.
I was encouraged by some of the get-togethers planned on the blog. But really I must say I benefited the most by doing this.
Blogging is fun - sharing - exploring - and you don't even need all that clown makeup. I've had so much fun that I've created a few more blogs - see the sidebar.
Also, I've discovered many interesting blogs. I suggest you check them out - here's my blogroll.
I was encouraged by some of the get-togethers planned on the blog. But really I must say I benefited the most by doing this.
Blogging is fun - sharing - exploring - and you don't even need all that clown makeup. I've had so much fun that I've created a few more blogs - see the sidebar.
Also, I've discovered many interesting blogs. I suggest you check them out - here's my blogroll.
Oh if you have read all the way down here - thank you - and please leave a comment on any of the posts.
