So, I love music. I always have. But, in the last few years I’ve noticed that I just don’t go to shows like I used to anymore. When I read Melissa’s recent blog about being blown away by a live show I got to thinking. What changed? In an effort to truly NOT accept the fact that I’m getting older and maybe can’t keep up like I used to, I had this thought; my ticket collection. My collection was kept in a big yellow box that had been tape reinforced through the years. On the back of each ticket I would write a few lines—something to jog my memory about that particular show. I had grand visions for the collection. Maybe framing them up or placing them in a glass cover for a coffee table or something. Notice I am using the past tense…

I had just moved back to Atlanta in 2004. My stuff was still in boxes, never unpacked from when I moved away in 2001. But I knew where my ticket stubs were. I placed all of my boxes, full of life stuffs—memories, letters from old friends, and my tickets in the little house in our backyard. We had no history with our new abode, having just moved in, so who could have anticipated The Great Flood of ’04. The rains came pounding down, overtaking our little stream, the lower level of the yard, the middle level and…the little house. Water raged knee deep while we stood on our deck wondering how high it would go. That was it. Knee deep. That’s all it took.

When things dried out and we went through our destroyed belongings I thought, “Oh well, who needs papers from college anyway?” I felt kind of new age about it, almost relieved that I no longer had to carry around all this stuff. It felt cleansing, to just let go. It took some time before I realized with a gasp, “MY TICKETS!” Just like that—gone. My custom mail order Grateful Dead ticket from New Year’s Eve 1990—gone. My 1988 Jane’s Addiction at T.T. the Bear’s in Cambridge—gone. My first Red Sox game with my Dad. You get the picture. As it slowly sunk in, I tried fighting the dread.I tried freeing myself of the urge for possessions.

I couldn’t do it. It hurt too much. My whole musical landscape, my music history was no longer there for me to recall. I figure I had been to at least a couple hundred shows at that point. I saw the Dead 32 times alone. So, as I set out mourning my loss, I stopped going to shows. I just stopped without even realizing it. I’ve been trying to get back on the train, but it just hasn’t happened yet. I keep waiting. Waiting for the live show motivation to come back. I mean I still love going when I do actually go.

As I ponder this invisible hurdle, I can only ask, who has gotten back in the saddle (any saddle) and how?

-Carla

PS – No updates coming tomorrow or Friday.  Happy Thanksgiving!

So something occurred to me after my blog turned into a family reunion of sorts when my mom, my dad, my brother, and my sister all left comments on it.  I then found out that my grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles were also reading our blog on a daily basis.  Some of them couldn’t figure out how to leave comments, others asked me to let them know whenever a new blog was written.  As I head home to Massachusetts for Thanksgiving, I decided I’m going to write a blog that answers most of their questions before they get to ask me in person!  Even if you’re a commenting and blogging pro, keep reading…you might learn a thing or two!

RSS Feeds – A few months back, I had no idea what the heck an RSS Feed was, or why I needed it.  I figured, “Why not just hit up the sites I like, and read them when I can?”  Well, as the blogging world slowly became a bigger part of my day, and the number of blogs that I read daily moved from just a few to a few dozen, it got quite complicated.  Luckily, I stumbled across another blog by Tim Ferris (a guy that I can’t seem to talk enough about)who explained why RSS feeds are so great.

RSS Feed stands for Really Simple Syndication.  Sounds like something easy to handle, right?  Think of an RSS feed reader (Google Reader is my favorite) as your own personalized online newspaper.  Anytime you go to a new site, keep an eye out for an RSS feed link. When you click on this link, and add it to your reader.  Now, every time any of your blogs are updated with new content, they are added to your Feed Reader!  From this reader, you can keep track of dozens and dozens of blogs, instead of visiting dozens and dozens of websites.  This has allowed me to scan the headlines of over one hundred blogs a day in probably fifteen minutes.  Click here to try it with our RSS Feed.  There are many options to choose, depending on which reader you want.  I suggest the Google Reader.

Email Subscriptions – For those of you who don’t want to jump into the RSS world, and don’t mind one extra email a day, you can sign up for our Sixthman Email subscription.  If there is a new blog posted, our Email system will shoot out an email blast to anybody that has signed up!  You won’t even have to visit the site (unless you want to leave a comment), you can read the whole blog in your email.

Leaving Comments – This is an easy one, but often overlooked by people!  On each of our blogs, you’ll see by the title, and then again at the end of the blog, the link to post a comment on that blog.  It will either say “No Comments” or “X Comments” depending on how many people have commented.  Simply click on that link, type in your comment, and there you go!  We spend a lot of time writing these blogs, and love to know that you guys are reading them.  We try to go out of our way to respond to all comments, so we really appreciate those of you who write back to us!

What do I subscribe to? – Here’s a list of some of the blogs that I subscribe to:

Tim Ferris’s Four Hour Work Week Blog – The lifestyle design blog of the author of the Four Hour Work Week, the book that changed my life and ultimately change my life path towards a career at Sixthman.

Seth Godin’s Blog – The number one business blogger in the world.  Every day, Seth posts a blog that will completely change how you think about business and marketing today.

Cali and Jody - A blog written by the author’s of Andy’s favorite book, “Why Work Sucks.”

Crave - My favorite nerd blog!  Keeps me up to date on all things in the technology world: videogames, computers, apple, etc.

What blogs do you guys like reading?  Any suggestions for me?

-Steve

In just a few days, our house will shelter twelve Levine’s for the annual Thanksgiving celebration.  On the menu will be the traditional dishes served with a large serving of “Drama”.  Like most families, we will loiter in the kitchen trying to engage but not instigate and look to the children for a distraction from conflict.

To pre-empt another “Why do we put ourselves through this every year?” experience, I am hoping that Jerry, Kramer, Elaine, George and Newman will be catalysts for the “Best Thanksgiving Ever”.

My aunt feels like I loved my grandfather more than my grandmother, my dad still resents not getting custody of my brother and I, my uncle avoids conflict at all costs, my mom thinks all men are jerks, my brother thinks my mom drinks to much, I wish my dad had helped me with college and my wife thinks we are all crazy….BUT WE ALL LAUGH HYSTERICALLY WHEN WE REMEMBER EPISODES OF SEINFELD.

So I declared this year a “Seinfeld Thanksgiving”, ordered the board game, recorded old episodes, my aunt made t-shirts, and we are having an “Elaine Dance Contest”.

I believe that we can really enjoy being together by finding things we have in common and incorporating them into our holiday.

Wish us luck.

-Andy

Three months ago, I thought this day would never come. But here we are. Sixthman Moving Day. I can’t believe it.

One day in August, I got a call from Andy. “Go pick up a box of sidewalk chalk and meet me at the new space.” We spent the entire day crawling around on the floor chalking out possible departments, erasing them (well, spitting on the floor and rubbing it with our foot…), and redrawing the lines until we felt like we had a solid foundation.

Then we invited Randy and Maggie, our architects, to take a look at our juvenile attempt at space planning. They listened to our ideas, offered some wise advice, and turned around a set of plans that were strikingly similar to the chalk lines we had drawn on the floor. It was the first of many exciting “holy shit, we’re really doing this” moments.

Then Alan, John, and the construction team tore down the walls. Andy and I raced from the brick wall to the sprinkler system (“watch out for the cord!”), and it only took us a minute and a half (man that’s a long promenade). Over the next several weeks, I’m sure we gave Alan and John more than their fair share of headaches with all of the changes we made (“No, no window. Yeah – put a window between my office and Rodney’s. Like a drive-thru window. Nah, nevermind. No window…), but they were troopers who got the job done at breakneck speed. I’m gonna miss talking to Alan every day and wondering if today will be the day he finally punches me out…

Then we met our designers – Kelly, Cheryl, and Selma. Sixthman is full of creative people, but interior design is not our strong suit. Our friends at Wolf Design Group pointed us in the right direction, designed a kick ass kitchen (with two microwaves! And an ice maker that makes little tiny ice cubes!), and gave us enough information for us to make better design decisions.

Then, the painting. Paint makes all the difference. Arthur and his crew have been painting their little hearts out for the last couple of weeks; with 22 ft. ceilings, we didn’t make it easy for them. And, of course, we changed more than a few wall colors along the way.

And now it’s done. Our new home. Where Joy won’t be heard throughout the entire office. Pregnant Jill Mac won’t have to climb any more stairs. Christy won’t have to sit on a chair in the lobby. And Carla can finally find some of that peace and quiet she’s been looking for.

Welcome to the next chapter, Sixthman. I hope you love it.

The other day I was messing with my friend Chloe’s hair, trying to get some really good static going to make her look funny when she asked “what the hell are you doing?” Her question gave me pause. “Are you allowed to say that?”

I honestly wasn’t sure. You see, my friend Chloe is eleven years old. She’s one of the smartest eleven year-olds I’ve ever met, and probably spends more time around adults than her peers but I’ve never known her to be a particularly foul mouthed little girl. I’m not her mother or even remotely related and although I consider her mother (a fellow rollergirl) a friend, I’ve probably had longer conversations with Chloe than with her mom. So when she tells me “my mom says that’s a swear I can say,” I take her word for it.

I try to recall myself at her age. By the time I was eleven I knew all the good swears. I knew which ones I could get away with in front of my parents, the occasional s-word, damn when not referring to the beaver home, or H-E-double hockey sticks would result in a look of disapproval or a “don’t say that” but would never get me sent to my room. A-hole, particularly when lobbed at my little brother might get me restriction. The queen bee, the mother of them all, I am of course talking about the F-bomb, resulted in a cruel and unusual punishment more humiliating than any grounding or being sent to my room without dessert. No, I didn’t get my mouth washed out with soap like Ralphie. I received far far worse. The first time I used the word in front of my mother, peppering it into a story I was telling her momentarily forgetting that I was not talking to my friends on the playground she stopped me and asked me to explain to her exactly what the word meant. As far as what my explanation to her at ten years old of what the word meant, I do not recall. I do distinctly remember knowing exactly what the word meant, but I think I might have said something about ducks. It would be many years before I would dare utter that word in front of her again

Now, I’m the “grown-up” (a term I throw out very loosely). Instead of feeling like the grown-up role model I’m supposed to be when making the conscious effort to curb my filthy mouth in front of young friends like Chloe, I feel like a bit of a fraud.  By the time I was ten or eleven years old not only did I know all the swears and what they meant, I knew had to use them. And damnit, I was good at it. I still am. I’ve done a lot of reading in my time and know quite a few more words that might be considered more sophisticated forms of self-expression. Still, nothing feels better in the heat of a moment of intense stress, anger, shock, disappointment, or happiness to let out a good solid “MOTHER F!@#$%!” I can’t explain it, but I know you can relate.

—Joy

Making lists has been a reoccurring theme in my life in the past few months- I’m not sure why, because I’m horrible at making them, and I can’t stick to them.

Members of the Sixthman team hopped on a boat for a site inspection last week. Hard job, right? (We worked for some of it, so don’t be too jealous). During our down time, we got into a discussion about life lists- you know, the list of things you want to do before you die? Apparently, I am the only person in the world who doesn’t have a life list. Thing is, I do have a life list, but there’s only one thing on it- EVERYTHING.

So Kelly gave me a great suggestion- make the list as I go. Perfect! ( You may notice that this blog is labeled “Part 1″- Kelly has been so kind as to write part 2 in a few weeks!) So here’s (a shortened) life list- all things I put on it after they were done:

1. Performed on stage in a 10 hour long play. I also played 20 characters in the same time period. Yes, the entire cast of the play was drunk by the end of it- we like to call it endurance theatre.

2. Became a roller girl. This is the big surprise in my life. I never, in my wildest dreams even entertained the notion of roller derby. But one day, the opportunity was there, and I took it.

3. Stayed awake for three days. I like to call that endurance living.

4. Fell in love- the gut wrenching, consuming, horrifying kind

5. Gave birth to a box of Twinkies. Then I rubbed them all over my body.

6. Jumped into a hot tub with all my clothes on

7. Jumped into a hot tub naked

8. Dyed my hair bright pink. God, I miss that ‘do.

9. Lived on a boat for a month. I like to call that endurance boating.

10. Watched a woman get a series of back piercings designed to look like a corset . Endurance piercing?

11. Worked at a fetish club. This doesn’t seem like a biggie, but my mother, an army nurse of 30 years, tells me she has always wanted to work in a bookstore. Gotta have dreams, right?

12. Stuck my arm in a bucket of raw chicken

13. Watched the sun rise over the city on New Year’s Day

14. Dropped everything for a road trip to a punk show

15. Climbed the Pyramids at Teotihuacan. So far, this is the only thing that seems like it would be on anyone else’s life list.

16. Leg pressed 450 lbs. I was much younger then…

17. Have participated in more than one cake fight. I ended up with frosting in my ears every time.

18. Went to Las Vegas with about 500 rollergirls, and turned the town on its ear. They were not ready for us. That was definitely endurance drinking…

19. Learned how to swing dance so I could perform in Lysistrata, an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes.

20. Took a champagne shower.

Well, that’s the short list. There are many other crazy, stupid, just plain weird things I’ve done for giggles, but you don’t really want to hear about the time I poured beer down my boss’s pants do you?

What have you already done on your life list?

Something came to my attention recently, and it occurred in Colorado when April and I were there having the time of our lives at the Sixthman Throwdown. No, it wasn’t the realization that Sixthman community members are the coolest people ever (which is undoubtably true), nor that I am capable of drinking more Colorado mudslides than I ever thought possible (which also happens to be true). No, what I discovered came as much more of a surprise. I found out that you are actually reading this blog. I mean, I knew that my fellow Sixthman co-workers were daily readers, as well as the occasional Sixthman community member as evidenced by a sporadic comment or two. While commentators are few and far between, I knew that some of you were there and it was enough of a reward to know that a few of you were actually listening. However, I found out that in actuality there are more of you out there!

When I was approached by several folks at the throwdown inquiring about the well being of Izzy and Chloe (my two kitties), it dawned on me that there are many more of you! You may not make yourselves known, but you are there! This came as somewhat as an astonishment to me to come to learn that my audience was in fact quite larger that I could comprehend, so I inquired about this to Steve, our blog master over at Sixthman.  According to Steve, there are actually anywhere between 200 and 250 of you out there reading the Sixthman blog daily and readership has been steadily growing! The realization of this suddenly made this fun little exercise seem a bit more daunting. I mean, who are you lurking quietly behind your screen? Won’t you please say hello? Introduce yourself, tell me about who you are! You know that I appreciate your readership even if you don’t comment, but knowing who you are now that I know that you are there helps make this activity a bit more personal and intimate, which is truly the entire purpose of this blog- for you to get to know us and for us to get to know you. In just a short few months we will really be getting to know each other, so why not get a jump start on that right now?

Come out, come out, whoever you are!

-Nora

With College Football dominating weekend TV and big rivalries around the corner, the BCS poll will dictate which teams get a chance to play in the coveted championship game on January 8th, 2009.  For those of you who don’t follow College Football, the BCS Poll is a formula based on several ranking polls and six unique categories like “strength of schedule” and “margin of victory”.

What does this have to do with picking bands for our events?

Let me introdce Rodney Stammel to you all.  He is an unsung hero that works closely with Sixthman to arrange all the production equipment, cranes, stages, etc. for each cruise.  He and I also act as a tag team committee in selecting the bands and making the onboard schedule.  For years, we have searched for a formula to help us identify the artists that we think will have the biggest overall impact on the event.

This past summer, Rodney sent me an excel document called “TRBCS” with his version of the BCS poll applied to bands instead of college football teams.  He created 6 categories and assigned each artist a 1-5 (1 for lowest and 5 for highest).

Categories

1) Strength of Schedule – how active is the band touring and how many tickets they are selling

2)Adaptability – can they play on any stage at any time and “rock the house”

3) Personality – how are they to work with and do they “play well with others onboard”

4) Band Stability – how likely are they to be a band in 3 years

5) Achievement – what kind of commercial success have they had (albums sold, radio hits)

6) Passion Factor – of the people who are fans, how passionate are they for the band

If you are so inclined, feel free to play along at home by downloading this excel sheet with some bands that have performed on The Rock Boat in the past.  Feel free to add your own bands and see how they rank.  TRBCS File

Thanks Rodney.  Your passion for sports and music has birthed an objective tool for us to make good decisions.

Andy

There is a lot of research out there on the good, bad, and ugly of having close personal relationships in the workplace. I say what bad!? What ugly?! 

The environment at Sixthman is one that completely embraces friendships. Literally, we are ALL friends. I don’t think any of us would balk at having to spend time with any other person on our team. I think this is completely invaluable. Our business is so different from any other, so unique in the way it works, that it’s hard for friends and family outside the business to really “get” it. Its easy to look at what we do and say, “oooh, fun!”…”it must be like a party in there all the time!” While it is fun, and we certainly get to enjoy ourselves, it takes a special kind of commitment and work ethic to accomplish what we do.

As we enter the final stretch heading towards the cruises in early ‘09, things really start to hit the fan. It’s intense and exhausting. But the fact that we are friends gives us a built-in support system. We’ve all got each others’ backs in a way that empowers us to succeed.

On top of that, I think having friends in the workplace makes us all more well-rounded. We have to draw the business/personal line a lot. Knowing how to separate those things is one of the greatest lessons I have learned from Sixthman. I used to take a lot of things personally, which were completely work-related and not worth the emotional strain. Armed with trust for my co-workers, I now can easily put things in their respective “baskets” and keep the positive mental attitude needed to get through the tough times. 

I am also so grateful to have had the unique experience of attending one of the “Sixthman Throwdowns”, given graciously by Cathy + Harry Stoltzfus. It gave me the opportunity to make genuine friends with the people we are working for. It makes all the hard work we put in 1,000 times more worth it! We are not just a company selling an experience to a target market. We are a group of friends, doing our best to give another group of friends the opportunity to have the time of their lives. 

PS – Thanks again to the Stoltzfus family! I love all my new friends. See you soon! 

I have read To Kill A Mockingbird more times than I can remember.  It is my favorite book on Earth. When I was younger I related to the character of Scout on a very personal level, and now that I am getting older, I have made it an ambition to always keep in mind the central theme in the book, set forth by Atticus that “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

Living from that point of view, I have been really blessed to have friends from all walks of life.  We all have differences from political / religious / background standpoints.  But we have something important in common too.   We respect each other.

During this past election process I found myself feeling (as I have in increasing amounts every time there is an election) very sad.  I don’t like the politics of using our differences to divide us.  To make us choose one way “or else.”  I don’t enjoy watching the American people choose sides, because to me there are no sides.  Is there an issue out there that is truly black and white?

I think that our differences (and the fact that we are free to have them and discuss them) are what make us great.  And when we use those differences as an excuse to disqualify each other as people or to undermine each other…well I believe everyone loses.

I read a great quote the other day… “The one mistake that we continue to make is that we label people. We say you’re conservatives, liberal, progressive, right wing, left wing. I think people just want to spend one day being Americans. They want to come together around a common purpose, common values.”  I really do think that’s true.

So I am challenging myself and hope you will too…when we disagree with someone, be it politically or religiously or even morally, let’s stop and ask ourselves… is it better that we argue this, or better that we listen and discuss?  This is another human being… worried about their future, their childrens’ futures, the state of the world and who am I to tell them that what they worry about is mundane or wrong?  Who am I to say that what they believe makes them a bad person?  What could we both learn here? How can I climb into their skin and walk around in it?

I bet you would be shocked at how quickly the refusal to get angry and the mission to stand-up firmly but respectfully for your own beliefs would change they way the other person sees you, how you see them and maybe eventually how the two of you see the world around you.  And little by little, as we all start to see things from multiple points of view, maybe this line that keeps getting drawn in the sand could slowly be erased.

I think I’d like to see my daughter grow up in that kind of world.  Now, where’s my peace pipe?