Over 10 years of facilitating industry peer groups!

First of all, what an amazing experience. I was in my early 30's when I started and now I look back on those in the room that are that age and think wow. But I learned so much from the experiences. 1. How to facilitate - To prepare for meetings, get vendors on the page, set agendas and more. 2. Finance - How, why and impacts and so much more. 3. Met so many great people. From presentors to amazing entrepreneurs and so much more. 4. Business in so many different area. I would compare it to a MBA but more. 5. Contacts! From every walk of life. I feel like I have a contact for almost anything. 6. Culture 7. The personal side of business (The tough stuff) 8. Traveled 3 countries! 9. Helped involved my team in the experience (Legacy) It was tough to think about stepping away. Who knows, maybe in the future I will come back to it. As for now I do look forward to getting back a month a year of my calendar. Thanks Arlin Sorensen, HTG, Evolve and team for the experience.

Teaching Presenting?

Recently I have been involved with a lot of people that are either needing to present, wanting to learn the skill or simply tuning their skills. I was ask to co-present a training to a team of people. I have to be honest, I have co-presented before and it is “OK” but it isn’t great! If you have to give a lot of content it definitely can reduce the load. However many times I have found that it increases the load. You have to sit down together, you have to play nice (I know I should anyways) and it ends up being more work. It definitely depends on who you are doing it with. My opinion is to only do it when you get to pick who you co-present with. NOW I do realize that the person being ask is not doing the choosing. Problem. Anyway, back to presenting training. After thinking this over quite a bit I have determined that it is personal. Sure you can give some over all structure guidelines. The real issue to me is the fact that when presenting you have to remain true to your natural style. If you are quit and reserved you cannot be loud and interactive. I am sure there are many other comparisons. But basically you can’t “Teach” a reserved person to be large on stage (I am sure there are exceptions) The best coaching that can be given is to; • Why are you presenting (What is in it for you) • What is in it for the crowd • Have a structure (No rambling) • It is a performance – be entertaining • Have fun (It will show) • Details matter (Where you stand, can they hear you, how you dress and so on) • Stories are best (Personal experiences are even better) I get it, not a complete guide but some starting thoughts.

Is my phone broken?

I can call people but for whatever reason no one will return my call! I am going to pick on a local car dealer. 3 weeks ago there was a recall on my break pads. They said give them a couple days. Nothing Called them back today - no one answered the phone. So I left a voice mail. Guess what, they did not return my call (At all!) I just want some company to have customer service? Let me be clear, just CALL ME BACK! It is beginning to look like to have a decent business if you just do what you say you will win!

Coming of Age?

2020 and 2021 are years of coming of age in the Riat household. My boys, one being a freshman and one a senior, me turning 48 (Knocking on 50). But honestly it is all good? Carsen has moved from baseball to tennis and is very happy about it, Caden really has found his place. From the first job that he still has at Dillons to being part of the Royal Court (Not sure if that is the right term) for his prom to selecting his college. I cannot say I saw the same success my two boys have found in HS. I was much more awkward for sure. No sports, constantly trying to find my place. Maybe that I why I have enjoyed my 40's so much? I know my strengths, I am in a position where I can help others. The one thing I hope to push into my boys is my positive outlook on (Well, pretty much everything) Keep it positive

Comparing Sonos Playbar to the Arc - Straight across comparison

I recently replaced my Sonos Playbar with the Sonos Arc and want to share a concerning ear's perspective. First let me catch you up on my setup. TV mounted above the fireplace, a first generation Sonos Sub, two latest voice enabled Ones. Replaced the Playbar with Arc in exact same set up and location. Let me also state that I do NOT have a eArc HDMI enabled TV so not maximizing the capabilities of the Arc. Here is what I found. Simple to hook up. Had to pull TV from wall to get the optical out (Adapter included in Arc package) Adapter from Optical to HDMI into the Arc. I then did the Trutune process. One thing I noticed (Admittedly it has been forever since I have tuned my livingroom so) The Trutune had you first tune from where you sit, then the entire room. My opinion, the tune was much better. Better sound balance (High and lows - the old tune was a bit bottom heavy) One big difference in in the highs. The high hat cymbols are much more crisp. The sound stage is MUCH wider and filling. I would say the overall sound is a bit better but not dramatic. I utilize Alexa and moving from the ones to the Arch is a much better experience. Would I recomend this upgrade? Well depends on how you feel about the $'s. Not worth it just to do it. If I was purchasing new then absolutely.

Using Apple Watch for Golf

I found it strange how little information was out there about using Apple Watch for golfing. I have decided to give you my journey and what I have found. To get started, let me tell you about what I started with. I started with a SkyCaddie SG5 (Origionally I was using a 2.5) and the solution worked great! My biggest complaint was that I had to pay $39 plus a year to get to work. As my SG5 was getting older and battery was not lasting half what it used to, I was looking at the newer units. Before I went down this path, I wanted to look at the units that were free. (IE you don't have to pay a subscription) What I found is that the lower cost hardware devices had small displays. With that said, my son has a Garmin https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AX44544/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It works great however I would lose it! It is super small. All features do work great. After looking at all units that were larger screen and full featured (Showed lay up distances, hole overview and score) I had a thought (Apple was making one of their semi annual product announcements) and was looking at their new watch. I then was thinking, wouldn't it make sense if I looked at utilizing my iPhone and Apple Watch. Beyond that, I really am not a power user of the watch (Heck, when I started digging in, my watch had not been working with my phone for several weeks - heck it still told time right) Let me disclose that I have a version 3 watch with a iPhone 11 Pro Max. The Pro Max is kinda key to this conversation simply due to battery life. I can go several days without charging. Next was what application would I use to work with the Watch. This is where I found that there were a BUNCH of apps. I downloaded and tried several of these apps. Many were free but you had to pay to get the Watch piece or for scoring (Or more) Dang, back to subscription, however if it is on my existing hardware and worked great, I am ok with that. Here is where I landed. Hole 19. https://www.hole19golf.com/ You do have to pay to get the watch install. However they have a trial for you. I have now used this app on several rounds and compared directly to my SkyCaddie (Distances and such) The watch was dead on (Or only a yard difference which could be exactly where each unit was) Things that you need to know. 1. To get GPS from watch you must disconnect bluetooth from phone. (Then it uses GPS on watch) It keys you to do this and you just push and hold main screen to get to that setting. 2. Battery on your watch will be affected. I use 3/4 of battery in 5 hours (Versus all day I use less than half usually) 3. Entering scoring is small on my watch. I wish it was larger. 4. Looks like the renewal on subscription is almost double the first year. Hoping for a deal between now and then? 5. The data the app provides is amazing and will really help my game. Hope this has been helpful!

Bio's are dumb?

It feels like lately I have had more requests for a "Bio". This mainly stems from being ask to participate in on line content. But really do you read bio's? I don't. Here is how I really make a decision.

1. Is it a really long and boring bio? Not going to attend.
2. Can I relate to this person (In my case they are easy to understand) Then I am in
3. Do they post their accomplishments back to potty training? Really? I am out.
4. Are they funny? At least it will be entertaining. I am in.
5. Are they full of themselves. Not a deal killer because the "system" wants us to be full of ourselves in bio's

OK, just a rant but now you know my opinion.

PS My bio

Just a guy trying to help others.

Steve