Best Compliments

seriously, I sat around and watched 2 days of IndyCar from this exact spot

I’ve had no real responsibility this weekend which is a bit of a change from the past few months and the next few weeks.  I napped, relaxed, ran and caught up on some work stuff.  I played with the pups, watched both days of IndyCar, and otherwise laid low as I prep for another busy week and deal with everything coming up over the next few months.

The biggest news is that I have been appointed to the IPS Budget Development Committee as a non-profit representative by the superintendent’s office.  It’s an honor to be asked to join, and once we confirmed there wouldn’t be any conflicts between Nine13 and that position, I gladly accepted the role.  If you want some back story on why the committee is being developed, here’ a good piece, on the need for better fiscal management as the district changes to meet present day demand.  It’ll be great from a standpoint of being able to give back to the district that I believe strongly is doing great things and making great choices.  It’ll be interesting to sit on the committee with a lot of the heads of city and continue to grow those relationships.  The other obvious thing is that it allows me to dip my toes in the political water with a more public position in a non-risky way that doesn’t expose my first focus, Nine13.

Other big news is that I’ve been asked by put together a presentation for a well known bicycle trade show in September in Las Vegas.  Apparently they are looking for a different style of speaker and want a focus on community engagement and education using bicycles.  It’s not a for-sure thing yet, but I spent part of the weekend laying out what a presentation and speech would look like for a large scale audience.  I said I wanted to do more public speaking in 2014, and this would certainly be one way to make that wish come true.

Pending another foolish broken rib, I’ve committed to running the Monumental Half Marathon in November with some counterparts at other education based organizations here in Indianapolis.  We’re kicking off Team BetterEd with the Monumental Mile this Thursday evening.  What better way to celebrate June 5 then go for a run, right?  I mean, after all, what would Jim do?

So, I’m feeling pretty lucky right now that all that hard work has paid off and is leading to some other cool opportunities.  In many ways, it’s the best kind of compliment to get and highlights the many different paths I can be involved with as my non-profit career continues to grow.  The other upside is that by doing some of these extracurricular things, it allows me to use some of my skills for things outside of my normal job.

I’m planning on catching up on some writing this week, I’ve got a bunch of cool stuff in the works and am staying busy with meetings and prep.  I’m out in Terre Haute this coming weekend for the Special Olympic Summer Games and have something every Saturday in the month of June with work.

Cheers,

-th