Every Wednesday I meet with a team of 15 peers for a game of wits, game of strategy, a game of kickball! That is right kickball the game you loved so much as a child you can play and enjoy as an adult with adult beverages.

I play on the Go Kickball League here in Atlanta, https://www.gokickball.com/atlanta/ . The league is centered on having a good time, meeting new people, leaving your worries behind and playing recreational games of kickball. There is also beer drinking involved on the field although it isn’t suppose to be visible. There is even a league bar for each of the four different parks that we play at. Teams are encouraged to hang out before and after their games at their league bar/restaurant to meet other teams and enjoy the complete social experience. We even got a league flip cup tournament taking place after our games at our league bar. For those of you who don’t know about the fantastic game called flip cup you can learn more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_cup

This is my first season playing on the Go Kickball League. I am on a team called The Revolution. We even got Daisy Yellow team shirts. Last night was our third game and put our current record at 2 -1. Each team will play a game each week for 8 weeks and have the opportunity to qualify for the season-ending tournament. The teams that qualify for the season-ending tournament advanced to play the 9th week in a round-robin, single-elimation tournament to win bragging rights and the coveted GOkickball “Friedman Cup”.

Does anyone else have a random sport league that they are part of and enjoy?

- Jana

Book of the Week: Dragon Tears by Dean Koontz

Every year Sixthman has several “firsts”. Last year was the first time we had done more than just the Rock Boat when we added Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man Cruise (then called Gimme 3 Days) and Barenaked Ladies Ships & Dip. This year was the first time we did five back to back cruises by repeating those three and adding John Mayer’s Mayercraft Carrier and Cayamo.

Next year will be a big first for us, the first time we’ve done one of our cruises off the West Coast. The Mayercraft Carrier 2 will leave from the port of San Pedro, just south of Long Beach. Now, as you may suspect, we know the port of Miami like the back of our collective hand. We know which terminals are better for what we do, and which aren’t (although we can’t always control which one we get). We’re also pretty familiar with ports in Ft Lauderdale and Galveston. San Pedro however, is a complete mystery. So today, being the team player that I am, I get the task of checking out our new port. I fly out this afternoon, and spend the rest of the week in LA, Long Beach & San Pedro. I know, I know, it’s a hard life. But Andy expects us all to make sacrifices…and this is mine. (Thanks Andy!)

Attached, find the photo of Jill Mac from when she and I had to go scout out locations in Grand Cayman. Again…another of my great sacrifices.

-Laura

In this first ever Sixthman Podcast, Sixthman employees Lauren, Steve, and Kelly discuss all things related to Sixthman.  Each host tells their unique story how they found the company, their role in the company now, and what life is like on a daily basis in the office.  They discuss upcoming events and news related to Sixthman and the music cruise industry.

Sixthman Podcast #1 [ 18:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Andy posted a while back about us taking the Kolbe Index personality test. Since then, we have continued to dive even deeper into finding out how we tick, to make a better working environment here at Sixthman. I, personally, find it fascinating! We have help with all this soul-searching business from a brilliant consultant, Jim Doggett,  with Avalaunch Consulting. After our last retreat, Jim gave us all copies of the book, “Now, Discover Your Strengths.” I wanted to know how I could use the things I am already good at (if there were any) to be better at my job, so when it came time to pick a book for our team to read, I choose this one.

We just finished reading “Now, Discover Your Strengths,” and according to Marcus Buckingham (who co-wrote the book), people that focus on cultivating their strengths rather than improving their weaknesses stand to dramatically increase efficiency while allowing for maximum personal growth and success. He calls this the “strengths revolution.” I’m sold!

Part of the book invloves taking the StrengthsFinder exam, which identifies themes that help people quantify their personal strengths in the workplace and at home. Great! There are thirty four talent themes (view them all here);  the StrengthsFinder exam (which is quite in-depth!) reveals your top five themes. Who is good at math? How many potential combinations are there? I’m seriously wondering. I think about a bazillion. But I could be off. At any rate, here are my top 5 strengths!

positivity
adaptability
empathy
ideation
strategic

None of these were particularly surprising to me, which was comforting. Perhaps I have gotten to know myself over all these years! I was so pleased that this was my personal, unique, oh-so-special combo, and was ready to embrace my strengths and begin becoming a better me! Until I called out to Steve, to ask what his top strengths were. He yells back, “positivity, adaptability, empathy, ideation, strategic!” What the?!? Now I am busy wondering how the heck I ended up with a doppelganger. However, we are having fun with it, completing each others’ sentences, tag-teaming dating duties a la Jerry and George, and pretty much just getting a giggle about our similarities.

I just hope he is the one who gets shot, not me. (Sorry, Steve!)(see video.) And, once I am over this, I can get back to strengthening my strengths and becoming a better person.
Check out this video: Saturday Night Live – Doppleganger

This past weekend, we attended the naming of Carnival’s newest ship, The Splendor. Carnival invited us to attend this event in London and, since we are chartering The Splendor for The Mayercraft Carrier 2 next March, we thought it would be a good opportunity to get a sneak peek of the new ship. We sailed on its inaugural sailing on Thursday afternoon from Dover, stopped in Amsterdam on Friday, spent a day at sea on Saturday, and arrived back in Dover on Sunday morning.

On Friday morning, we all set out to explore Amsterdam in different groups with a plan to meet up in the afternoon for a beer. My wife and I stopped at a café on a canal after lunch to rest for a while. We ordered a couple of Amstel Lights (it was like the Saturday Night Live skit “No Coke, Pepsi” ) and called Red, Jill, Pam and April to let them know where to find us. When we sat down, I noticed a man sitting across the canal that had a strong resemblance to someone I knew but I dismissed it because, well, I was in Amsterdam. After finishing our beers, we decided to walk around for a while since we had some time before we were to meet up with the rest of the group. When we walked across the canal, the man I had seen earlier was still resting with a friend. This time I could not ignore it and asked my wife if she also thought he looked like Marc Broussard. I had to at least say something so I called out to him and he looked up at me in disbelief. He and Cort were just hanging out waiting for the other guys in the band to meet them, as they were to play at the North Sea Jazz Festival the following day. We all exchanged hugs and walked back to the same cafe my wife and I had just been. Within an hour, there were ten of us sitting at a café under a blue sky telling stories and catching up. Afterwards, we all roamed through the “Red Light” district looking for Roxanne, and ended up in the town square people watching. One of the highlights was when April and my wife did a tandem cartwheel in front of some street performers.

We all agreed it would have been a “Good Day in Heaven”.
–

Several years ago, a friend showed me the website PostSecret.com.  It’s a site where people are encouraged to anonymously mail a guy a postcard-sized piece of paper with their most hidden secret written on it as part of an ongoing art project.  Every week the secrets on the site are changed so you can visit often and always read new things.

The first time I saw the site, I was completely enthralled.  Some of the secrets were very dark.   Some were funny.  Some were inspiring.  I don’t know any of the people who sent the secrets in, but each week I found myself laughing or crying or rooting for the person on the other end.   They were very powerful, those secrets.

As time passed, I had a big revelation – these were my secrets.  In a relatively short amount of time, I noticed that almost all of my most hidden secrets had been revealed in some way through this site.  It occurred to me that as different as people seem on the outside, at the very core we’re all very similar.  We’re all struggling through the same things.  We’re all just trying to get through life the best we can.

And then something bigger happened.  I found new secrets about myself through PostSecret.  Things I never thought about and things I never even wanted to admit to myself.  On Valentine’s Day two years ago, one of the postcards said “I am in love with my best friend.”  It took my breath away.  I saved it to my computer until I felt I could own up to it.  In a moment of intense courage and vulnerability a couple months later, I sent it to her.  This past May, we celebrated our two-year anniversary.

If you’re feeling brave, I encourage you to leave a comment anonymously with your secret.

Lauren

I took three days off this week. It was nice and celebratory and lovely and tiring.

See when you take days off work..everyone knows you don’t rest. You have a schedule. While it may not be emails, voice mails, or anything work related, It tends to feel like work to get it all in. Do this, get there, eat now, celebrate….

Vacation is never really vacation is it?

I think it is probably me. My workaholic self can’t let go of having a schedule, a plan. I need to know how I will be occupied even in my state of being “relaxed”. I like to have an agenda even if it does included 11am – make coffee, 1pm watch boring TLC-like show on tv, 4pm finally shower (by the way none of my agendas ever look like that…) — but no one does this on vacation do they? I can only imagine letting myself go enough to sit around in my underwear, watching bad cable, eating Pirate Booty out of the bag, and not cleaning up after myself…THAT is a vacation.

Instead, after my short hiatus, I come back to work feeling like it’s Monday with the pleasant knowledge that it is already Thursday. I hit the ground running and a few tasks into my day already pine for the weekend.

See everyone knows that while vacation might not be totally vacation. The day you get back is always catch up day…and be it Monday or Thursday all you want back is the simple idea that you could be at home watching Little House in your underwear.

Good thing I love my job…and my co-workers. Now if only they would be okay with me coming to work in only my underwear.

Pussers.

No, im not being gross, or elementary, or talking about some disgusting form of ‘stuff’ that can seep from human skin. I’m talking about a restaurant.

Yep, that’s right. The name of a restaurant. Hungry yet?

Ok, so maybe the pronunciation is off from what its supposed to be, and how you read it. And yes, it is named after the single malt rum, which is named after a variation of ‘purser’ created on ships of the British Navy. But, still. How many of you would know that information at first sight?

After my last trip to Jacksonville Beach, when this location was suggested for a night cap, I could not believe it. What? NO, I don’t want to go there. That name actually just made me lose my appetite for a tasty cocktail all together. I almost couldn’t wait till it was my turn to blog – not to talk bad about this place – as I have heard their food is good – but more ask what you think?

In my mind, there had to have been a point in the ‘brainstorming’ phase of the restaurant’s concept, that the thought came to mind, “our goal is to appeal to the masses of people who have a decision to make about where to spend their money and consume food.” And I would assume they thought about what it would sound like, to the majority of the population, to talk about their restaurant, which they can only hope for. Think about it, how does it sound when little Johnny throws out the idea, “Mom and Dad, let’s go to pussers! I’m craving their burger.” Seriously?

I know there are uncountable other brands out there who have struggled to overcome mis-pronunciation, punctuation and the like. And I certainly wish Pussers the best of luck. But this marketing decision is the top of my list for the present.

Can you top this?

-ape

I was in the Atlanta airport this morning on my way to Toronto for business and while I was in the restroom washing my hands, I noticed a very familiar man next to me doing the same.  We looked in the mirror and then did a double take.  Next thing you know there are two men hugging in the bathroom (not that there is anything wrong with it).  It was my good friend Ken Block from Sister Hazel on his way home from a weekend run of shows.

We finally stepped outside and then received a text from Andrew Copeland (Sister Hazel) telling us to SHHHHHH.  For a moment, it felt like we were undercover spies meeting to exchange critical information.  With an hour or so to kill before our flights, we got to catch up with each other and realize how life was treating us all.  I don’t get to see these guys very often and after spending found time with them, I realized that we were all dealing with similar joys and challenges of life.

We promised to make sure we found a couple days to get the families together and watch our kids play.  Now we just have to find a place that will welcome 11 kids and a band for the weekend.

Atlanta is the busiest airport in the world, I believe, and I’m not sure how many of its visitors stop by the washroom, but I have to think that it was more than coincidence that we ended up there at the same time.

Anyone have any strange travel encounters that you can share?

Every now and then we have people call in and ask if we are hiring or ask us how they would go about applying for at job at Sixthman. Well, this week we will begin interviewing candidates for a qualified assistant to our webmaster, Peter (whom we are more likely to refer to as The Laptop Whisperer or simply, Wizard). Because we phone ninjas rely so heavily on talented tech support to keep things running smoothly (and regardless of the fact that one of us once tried to fix the internet with a hammer), Peter asked May and I to sit down with his prospective assistants and ask them a few questions of our own.

Just in case you’ve ever wondered how we select our staff (or maybe you’re interested in throwing your own hat into ring) below is just a sampling of questions from the interview May and I will be conducting:

1.     If asked to judge a gladiator style feat of strength between May and myself do you feel that you would make a fair and         impartial judge?

2.    True or False: Presents are appropriate only on Wednesdays and holidays.

3.     What time is the dance break?

4.     I just told you that website is broken but cannot clarify which website it is or even if it is one of ours or what I mean by broken. May has already thrown something and Jana is hiding under the desk. How do you respond?

5.     That thing does not work, people cannot see it. What is that thing?

6.     I have crossed the line. How do you non-verbally express to me that your comfort threshold has been crossed?

7.     Do you make coffee? (Do not bother proceeding to questions 8 – 10 if the answer is no).

8.    We are thinking of asking Andy for an office gym and if hired we will ask for your help. Instead of an elliptical machine, we would like you to ask him to buy us a lion. We feel that having a live lion to do battle with during our lunch breaks is an important part of the training regiment for our feats of strength. Tell us how you would go about asking Andy for a gym lion.

9.     What would you like us to call you? Your options are: Mini-Wizard, The Lap-Top Whisperer Kid, or a name of our                   choice based directly on a distinguishing physical characteristic.

10.    One of us is mostly bionic. Which one is it?

Don’t be afraid to try answering our interview questions yourself, regardless of your knowledge of the intricacies of web technologies. There are no wrong answers, except for when your answers are wrong.

—Joy (with help from May)