I left my beautiful sun-bathed balcony-laden top-floor Swedish home on Karlbergsvagen in the afternoon of Monday, November 20. I put most of my possessions in storage, gifted others to some lucky people, and left with a suitcase, a guitar and a laptop. That night I flew to Vienna for a few days to run a poker industry seminar for the BWIN board, then on to Barcelona for twelve days.
In Spain I supervised the production of the Ongame Network Poker Classic (“The ONPC”), a massive new hybrid online/offline poker tournament format I first imagined in September of 2005. Fifteen months’ time passed while it was evolving from scribblings in Microsoft Word to players from around the world pushing chips across tables in the Grand Casino de Barcelona. Even after countless challenges with planning, promotion, format, player communication and logistics, it was an extraordinary – and, in the eyes of many, an unexpected – success.
The ONPC was magnificent. My clever colleagues put tremendous effort into making sure hundreds of details and “The ONPC Experience” were meticulously arranged. The players had a great time, the poker was superb, and the tournament was tremendous fun for everyone involved. As the $5,000 buy-in event played down online until the bubble burst, all 45 players arrived in Spain already assured a piece of the prize pool. Having no losers meant a different kind of tournament atmosphere, although players were still upset with how they finished.
Between live-blogging and talking to players, I even took a late-night turn playing some juicy 10/20 Pot-Limit Omaha with a few loose & loco Catalan locals obsessed with betting the pot to prove their manliness. I appreciate them funding a spectacular snowboarding trip after I wrapped up my job at Ongame Network and BWIN.
Yep, that’s right. After executive-producing the ONPC, passing ownership for all Ongame Network’s products over to a pair of extremely clever Product Managers, and handing-over two years of planning, proposals, documentation, presentations, reports and a mountain of market intelligence (what I humbly called “The Bible of Online Poker”), I dropped off my laptop with IT and my keys with the office manager. It was a melancholy moment full of mixed emotions and reflection. Primarily, I felt deep satisfaction and gratitude towards Rickard, Patrik and David for giving me the opportunity to learn and shine.
I mostly adored living in Stockholm. It was a beautiful environment full of hip, happy and happening Swedes. Even while I kept company with intense type-A alpha-male workaholic braniacs who thrive on pressure, performance and power, I was able to laugh and play with some fun, delightful people who made sure my liver stayed in top form! Friday night dinners with my newfound family Martin, Oscar and Calle the Renaissance Man were together a significant part of my home in the ‘holm.
After Scandinavia (thanks to the nice Spanish men I mentioned earlier) the lovely Britt and I went to Val d’Iseres to relax, clog our veins with French cuisine and try some serious snowboarding on some formidable hills.
The French Alps were awesome. While taking the gondola up to a lift that took me to another lift on my way up to a peak, the world seemed simple, enormous and white. There was only snow and rock and bone-chilling cold, like a lunar landscape, a white desert or the heart of my seventh-grade French teacher. I love finding places in this world where simplicity and beauty completely replace for a time the complexity and challenges of life. Because once at the top, the only thing to do was breathe, appreciate the grandeur of Gaia, and ride her snowy spine back down the mountain!
After Europe, I went to Toronto for a few weeks to indulge in friends, family and familiar foods. Channukah, X-Mas, Festivus, some birthdays and New Years were all celebrated with a light heart and a big smile. I got to hang out with some beautiful people, have coffee with The Flink, catch a few Kevin Quain songs at the Cameron with Marissa, rock out repeatedly to Guitar Hero with Farf and Noah, indulge with the original Jay Lo, and catch up with a lot of other people near and dear to my heart. It was like revisiting a normal life, and that was a sweet fruit to savour.
Then the next chapter began.
Since leaving Toronto after New Years Eve I have been on the road working towards getting my new “project” ready. I know that is unambuously ambiguous, but until an announcement I hope to make by mid-May brings the details into the public domain, that’s all I will say here.
I have recently been feeling rather articulate, motivated to write and share, and just generally start blogging again. But due to the competitive industry in which I work – and the surprising number of people I meet who tell me that they found this site while doing some research in preparation for meeting me – I’m going to keep my mouth somewhat shut while my eyes and ears stay open.
I can say that I’m based in Asia now, that my language skills are slowly improving (to the delight and laughter of many), and that I’m working in an exciting business development role. As I write this, I’m flying over the South China Sea on my way from Hong Kong to Singapore for the ACE Conference.
Singapore is going to be hot and humid – melting temperature, I believe – and I look forward to seeing some friends there before taking my next step to Australia. More on that in my next post!
After more than a year of planning, preparation, coordination and tremendous effort, the Ongame Network Poker Classic Live Final is finally here. I'm in Barcelona with my team and the BIG PARTY is tonight. Players are arriving at the Hotel Majestic now from all over the world and excitement runs thick in the air.
I took this pic on the rooftop patio of the Hotel Majestic in Barcelona. Shown here is the gold trophy that the champion will receive on Sunday December 3. The 75-gram Swedish-handcrafted solid gold "coin" (with a ruby where the bull's eye is) can be removed from the polished granite trophy base and used as a card protector, if the player feels like using a $10,000 card protector. :
It's a nice little extra for the winner, on top of the $283,038 first prize.
Have you heard of the Free Hugs Campaign? It's incredibly cute, fantastically endearing, and so full of positive energy that it brings a smile to even a hard-hearted cretin like myself. :)
According to the official site:
Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, A man whos sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives.
In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal.
As this symbol of human hope spread accross the city, police and officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign BANNED. What we then witness is the true spirit of humanity come together in what can only be described as awe inspiring.
I absolutely adore this idea, though a quick SWOT analysis (I can't help it) shows some fairly gaping holes in the strength of an extended campaign.
Noah and I had a half-day off in Dublin to tour some local establishments and enjoy the sights. We visited the Holy Land (the Guinness Brewery at St. James's Gate) and the Jameson distillery. It was four hours full of delighting the senses and indulging in the finer (brewed) things in life.
Here are a two of my favourite pics from that day trip.
This is Part I of the TOUCH production of Esthero's acoustic tour with j. englishman and Ricky Tillo. See Part II and Part III on YouTube.
I really like how more artists are using YouTube to tell their stories with video blogging. It's great content that - when done well - is incredibly engaging. I spend far more time watching online video these days then I do in front of the TV.
I'm also enjoying Lindi Ortega's Indie Lindi, an ongoing video travelogue of her musical journey in New York. On a low level, it is just video blogging. But as she captures live performances and other adventures, she's developing distributed relationships with current and potential fans where she can easily speak to many in an intimate (and sometimes exhibitionist) way.
More thinking about video blogging is necessary, for one major event in particular. More on that to follow...
The Legendary Andres Segovia is one of my musical idols. I found this video today and thought I'd post it to share something beautiful with my fellow residents on this Blue Marble.
This is a pic of the roof of the gorgeously gothic 15th-century St. Stephen's Cathedral in downtown Vienna. I pass it quite regularly and its presence never fails to make me stop and take notice.
I'm running every morning on Saltspring Island and the eye candy is breathtaking. I've been listening to Matisyahu's new Live at Stubb's on my i-pod at a low setting so I can hear a spectacular mix of spiritual reggae, heavy breathing, bouncing steps and nature. Just soooo delicious.
