John Winsor

Dangerous Play

Gever Tulley's talk on 5 dangerous things for kids is one of my favorites from TED. So much of our world has been sanatized for kids. There's been so much focus on safety that kids are rarely allowed to be kids anymore. As a father of two 7 year old boys, I am constantly trying to allow the them to explore their world within boundaries. Among other things, they've learned how to rock climb and surf. These sports have taught them so much, from overcoming fear to understanding safe limits and making good judgments. Now, I just wish Gever's Tinkering School was closer to Boulder. I'd enroll them.

The Nose Knows

A couple of weeks ago, when I was surfing with Lars, a nice swell came in. Being a bit amped, I decided to surf my 10 ft. Takayama Double Ender without a leash. That morning a big black streak filled the sky as a set rolled in. I was stoked, to take off on another big wave. Paddling in was perfect, the ride was amazing, getting closer to the nose than I usually do. And, the kick out, well that's were it all began. After such a great ride I got a little cocky, kicking the board up to catch it while flipping it over the wave. The only problem was my left hand missed the rail causing my board to tomahawk right into my nose. Man, it rung my bell and moved my nose to the right a few centimeters. When I got to shore the gang was waiting with towels in hand to help stop the bleeding. It was ugly. I even had to move my nose back in place. At the time I thought I did a good job. But, as you can see, it was pretty bad.

The real trouble came when I went to the doctor back in Boulder. I should have known. The Doc gave me a choice, either have it rebroken in the office then, right before I had to give speeches in Denver and New York on the two next days or wait a week and have it fixed in the operating room. As you might imagine, I went for the former. David Morrissey, the doctor and a good friend, shot me up with a little novacaine and rebroke the nose. To keep it in place, he created a splint. Knowing I was heading on the road, Fellow CPBer, Dave Clemens, created a little design for me.

Well, put a cast on your nose and you'll learn a lot about a culture. In Denver, people asked me about the break. It was all of the usual questions; how did i do it? Where? When? New York was a whole different experience. No one asked me about it. I did, however, have four people ask me if my nose cast was some kind of new jewelry.

The more we think places are the same the more they're different.

CP+B's Thanks-o-matic

Alex and the crew created this site to thank everyone at CP+B for a great year. Managers were asked to write a few notes thanking each of their team members. Those were then posted. The video then locks so that you can order your present. It's pretty cool technology. If you want to check it out, use my password, 699ERTY.

Mitt Romney is Uncool

When does something become uncool? It usually coincides when a politician adopts a word or, in this case, a gesture. I've been doing the "fist" greeting for a few months now. I'm not sure why I started. It's just one of those viral things. Well, after seeing Romney adopt it, I'm gonna stop. It just looks so uncool.

Photo of the Day

Sometimes the most difficult thing in marketing is picking a good name. It seems like Goin' Postal might want to reconsider theirs.

Viva La Paris!

I arrived n Paris a couple of days ago. Each morning going for a run near the Louvre through the Toillere and following the Seine. Paris makes you feel grand. I might go so far as saying even Regal.

Happy Halloween

London Calling

I got into London at 4 this morning. Just in time to get things settled at the hotel and go out for a run on the Thames. It doesn't matter were you are in the world, witnessing sunrise is always special.

The Difference Between “Fun” and “Super Fun”

(Editor's note: As I've mentioned, I've invited a few friends that have interesting insights to write posts from time to time. Alex Bogusky was kind enough to kick things off.)

John Winsor is a lunatic. And I first got to know John right here on this blog. We had traded some e-mails when I first moved to Boulder, and then I started visiting the blog to see where his head was at. But this blog doesn’t tell the whole story – the story of a deeply disturbed man.

While his ideas and his appreciation of marketing are very much aligned with my own, his tastes in outdoor pursuits veer into the lunatic fringe. Very early on in my travels through Boulder complete strangers would warn me about him. Everybody knows him here. And pretty much everybody has had some near death experience hanging out with him. So the attitude is always the same, "Oh, you’re hanging out with John? Just be careful." Or as John himself would advise, "Pay attention."

There is another phrase that John will use to describe some adventure he thinks you should join him on. "Super fun." I recommend to anybody who hears this phrase, "super fun," from John to strongly consider declining because it means you can die doing whatever it is he has planned. So, super fun=you might die. As in: falling off a cliff, hypothermia, frostbite, heat stroke, starving to death, lost in the wilderness.

Yet even given all that, and probably because of all that, he’s a lot of fun to hang out with and shoot the shit with. Recently, John and his merry team of research fanatics have joined us at CPB. The results have been better than I ever hoped for. A collision of minds and philosophies that has made everybody better.

The whole deal has made life and work around here "super fun."

- Alex Bogusky

Feeling Goofy

Man, time flies. My six year old son, Harry, started siging a familiar tune with a new ending, "la, la, la, la, la, la, la feeling goofy." When I mentioned that the ending was, "feeling groovy." Harry asked, "Dad, what's groovy."

While I didn't grow up in the 60's and didn't really know know what "feeling groovy" was all about. Yet, it still had relevance.

It's amazing how fast our language changes and, with it, culture disappears. Whether he understands it or not Harry's pretty groovy.