09.25.2008 Thursday: Home Again, Please.

Picture of: my hotel breakfast before I started this long day. Mmmm, oatmeal.

Today I: woke up earl(ier) than usual to finish a project that was bugging me in my brain; grabbed the hotel breakfast and ate it in my room; packed up my suitcases and supplies; checked out of hotel; taxi I prearranged did not come so I took the hotel shuttle to the airport and grabbed a taxi there; missed taxi meant I missed the group bus to go run up (or even amble up) the "Rocky" stairs in Philly; presented my brief workshop on the use of folktales/fables in business and corporate storytelling settings; talked with several people afterwards who might be interested in my services as a storytelling coach; had a great lunch with lots of positive conversation; attended a workshop on the use and development of telecourses; "split" a cab with another person back to the Philly airport; took a B767 plane from Philly to Charlotte- first wide-body (umm, sorta) that I had been on since I was in high-school; barely made it in time for my flight to PHX-which was a cramped, painful trip and otherwise uneventful. BOO to USAirways for the $15 baggage fee. I don't pay it 'cuz I travel so much but others try to get around it by taking everything on board causing chaos and unhappy people. (BOO USAirways for this!); finally got home to my lovely family at the airport and the drive home- just about 10 days straight on the road; ate some late dinner; wrote to you; crawling into bed. Whew!

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

09.22.2008 Monday: Third Plane/24 Hours

Picture of: a myspace inspired self-portrait taken in the airplane lavatory. See, nothing is too good for my readers. LOL.

Today I: after catching up and doing laundry, I took a nap until my alarm went off; repacked my suitcase with my newly cleaned clothes; drove to airport with wife #1 and daughter #4; took the plane "ride" across the country from Phoenix to Philadelphia wherein I was able to take this high-class picture for you; checked into hotel; changed rooms in hotel; finished the sleep I missed last night; ate dinner at restaurant on premises; laid out my storytelling-business related work for Tuesday; goodnight.

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

09.21.2008 Sunday. Cramped, Missing Travel.

Picture of: gate 8 at the Knoxville airport

Today I: slept in; checked Email; packed up my bags and boxes for the trip home; drove to the airport from Gatlinburg- freeways closed for construction- many detours; returned rental car; checked in bags and did the security thing; loaded on first tiny, small, little plane which pulled back from the gate just a few minutes late only to go get parked on the tarmac for a 30 minute air-traffic-control-hold. Umm, you couldn't NOT load us up after the traffic delay instead of making us wait on this cramped plane?; plane arrived late and I did not make my connection to Phoenix- bumped to flight two hours later; ate dinner in the airport and worked in the USAirways club for a while; boarded flight out to Phoenix and had uneventful four hours across the US; family met me in airport and youngest daughter ran to greet me as kind of a silly joke- older couple sitting in seats in waiting area were very touched by her gesture- giggle; drove home with stop for quick food; copying VHS video of corporate storytelling presentation this weekend to DVD's so I can edit it during down time over next few days; washing clothes now, repacking for trip in the morning and blogging to you
::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

09.19.2008 Friday: Workshop and Networking

Picture of: the view from the hotel lobby in Gatlinburg, river running below, Smoky Mountains in the background.

Today I: packed up and had the complimentary breakfast at the hotel; drove off to the downtown Gatlinburg conference location; fought with the automatic parking gate; checked in for the conference; networked with some new friends and associates; presented my intro version of the "Ancient Secret" corporate storytelling workshop to this group- was shot in a three-camera video shot; attended the rest of the conference; returned to hotel; drove out for dinner; came back to hotel; calling it a night

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

09.17.2008 Wednesday: Layover At My Own House

Picture of: pile of things I leave behind for staff to do while I am gone over the next few days.

Today I: spoke with two clients about upcoming storytelling events- probably will be able to do one and not the other; researched new story; prepped handouts for event on Friday in Tennessee; reviewed CD-audio for a coaching client; went to lunch with wife; banged my head against my virtual virtual-server wall for the unbelievable amount of spam I am getting right now-wow; went banking and post officing; finished, finally, a huge stack of audio files that needed to be posted; went to Kinko's and Target with family; ate dinner; back to Kinko's and Best Buy for printer ink; washed clothes; finished packing; left pile of work for others to do; going now to watch "The Daily Show."

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

09.16.2008 Tuesday: Travel Bug(ging me)

Picture of: the plane parked at Gate 20 that would carry us from Austin, TX to Phoenix, AZ

Today I: slept in a bit after yesterday's long coaching and corporate storytelling day; worked on Emails to clients back in Phoenix; packed up my belongings in my hotel room; cleaned up meself and checked out of hotel; had lunch at the local "casual dining" location; gassed up the rental car; drove to airport in Austin and turned in the car; wanted to poke AVIS in the eye for this crazy "automatic" charge of $14 if you drive less than 75 miles in your rental. They charge your card (holding that money) and *then* ask you if you bought gas so they can refund the $14 to you; checked in, did the TSA shuffle and hurried-up-and-waited at the gate; got bumped up to first-class; took the 2.5 hour flight back to Phoenix; wife and daughter #4 met me there and drove on back home; worked on a problem with delivery of an audio kit; did not respond to more echo-chambering storytelling stuff; ate dinner at home and took my family out for dessert; unpacked suitcase and found large, live beetle bug in my case- musta wanted to leave Texas; calling it a night.
::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

09.15.2008 Monday: Flying to/through Texas

Picture of: Pile of things on the desk of my hotel room. Included is a piece of doll clothing that apparently one of my daughters placed in my suitcase. Odd. Funny.

Today I: woke up early after a rough night of FMS pain; finished the last minute packing things; drove to airport with daughter #4 and wife #1; did the cattle-call loading on to the plane; flew across the southwest in seat 14F, apparently the new improved smallest-seat-we-ever-made seat--I normally don't gripe hard about flying but today I was just reminded how much of a "bus with wings" air travel has become; got rental car; drove to hotel and settled in, Austin Texas style; joined my sponsors for dinner- great great hotel at Lost Pines; presented a short evening presentation (based on the Storytelling 101 Kit) of the essence of corporate storytelling along with a mini-concert of stories; crashed in hotel room;

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

09.14.2008 Sunday: Packing Up Rewrites

Picture of: new handout for the "Ancient Secret of Public Speaking Workshop." You can download a copy at this link.

Today I: took daughter #1 to work at 5am; stayed up and then rewrote and tweaked the website for the "Ancient Secret" workshop; produced a working copy of the handout pictured left; picked up printing at Kinko's...yes it was wrong. That is rare for them as normally I have nothing but good experiences; went to store to replace my worn out shoes; got upgrade notice for my return trip on Tuesday- woo hoo!; read the pig's blog; took family to inlaws' BBQ and hung out a bit; drove me and daughter referenced above home- me to work and her to take nap; washed clothes for my trip; sorted through and prepared bags and suitcase for my corporate storytelling trip as I have not travelled for at least a month;

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

9.12.2008 Friday: Moving Up Dates

Picture of: my confirmation for my Austin, Texas hotel on Monday.

Today I: worked with my new Texas client to secure payments and last minute arrangements; returned rental car after picking up my now fixed-for-now mini van; crafted and sent "letter of agreement" to client; did the post office and bank run; reviewed materials for the string of out-of-state corporate storytelling gigs I have going on; finished revision of handouts and sent the project over to Kinko's- talked to the counter guy on the phone and I know he's going to do it wrong. Sigh. We'll see.


::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

08.20.2008 Wednesday: Poor Baby.

Picture of: an old 2002 picture of our very first dog, who is now a slightly crazy, sneaky critter who likes to have things her own way or she is mean to other dogs and people. She is easily offended. It's best to ignore such precious critters when they behave badly.

Today I: made flight arrangements for a trip to Philadelphia; booked hotel rooms for Tennessee and Philly; had lunch with my wife to work through calendar things; cancelled the Philadelphia version of the "Storyteller.net Live" show; made meeting room arrangements for the "Ancient Secret of Public Speaking" workshops in October and November; worked on publicity for the ASPS workshop; talked with a client about our delay on the audio files; made car arrangements for my out-of-town trip this weekend; made chili for dinner; twittered; began work on a new story today; cleaned out my hard drive, archived some files and found the picture of the dog gracing this note; I am lucky to have peers and associates who are smart, kind and supportive.

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

08.14.2008 Thursday: Gettin' Ready For Boot Camp

Picture: the schedule page of the new workbook for the "Outside In Storytelling Marketing Boot Camp."

Today I: put together all the parts and pieces for the OISBCamp; reorganized the handout pages into one workbook; cell phone is broken; office phones broken; assembled bags for OISBC guests;
went to Kinko's to get new workbook printed and bound there. Kinko's wants you to believe they are a great support for the small business person....and I completely agree. Me love Kinko's; spoke with a potential client on the east coast (U.S.) about coming out to them for a corporate workshop-talked with different potential customer yesterday also across the country on east coast. Busy.

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

06.29.2008 Sunday: Picture Them.

Picture of: me and some of the kids from the youth rally I did last week.

Today I: discovered a blog of the Diocese of Beaumont youth rally, it had a couple of pics on it; worked on fine tuning a new storytelling promotional product, had lunch with my wife to catch up after the trip; did a number of family errands, gave in to the blech I have been feeling all day, going to lay low the rest of the day; I am sure the picture above is copyright by somebody in Texas but I don't know who.

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

06.27.2008 Friday: Keynotes, Workshops, Sales

Picture of: order forms from my vendor table at the youth rally I worked today.

Today I: provided the keynote presentation today at the Diocese of Beaumont Youth Rally held in Houston Texas- lots of stories in 45 minutes; presented a quick Storytelling 101 workshop for the adults leaders; sold many tools, tapes and books from my vendor table after the workshop; packed up my hotel room to check out; got downstairs and realized I had forgotten things in the hotel room so had to run back up there; high-school-aged kid on the elevator told me I had to go to his church so he could hear the story of the seagull again; got a ride back to the airport with my new friend Linda; was early at the airport so I ate my lunch at Chili's and then killed time until the flight boarded; got upgraded to first class as we were boarding the plane- now that was a good surprise; flew two turbulent hours to Phoenix; got picked up by my lovely family- daughter #4 did not run to greet me as I think she was afraid she would spill her $tarbuck$, lol; got home and tallied up my sales- sales of the resources were up 300% per ticket by making one change to my presentation- something you will learn at the Outside In Marketing Camp this August. This isn't about taking money from participants. The people who purchased got great, useful tools and I was compensated for my work- that is what marketing is about- win/win; crashing now

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

06.25.2008 Wednesday: Rally. Passengers.

Picture of: the skyline of Houston, Texas from my hotel room balcony on the 23rd floor room.

Today: I finished the packing up; drove up to the airport; oh, my it is amateur hour in the airports right now, lot of people travelling, lots of kids, lots of folks who still think the old rules of flying apply- it's a new world, fellow passengers, get with the program; made the flight across the southwest; played telephone tag to get picked up at the airport by a very nice person..thanks Linda; settled into the hotel; wandered the Galleria mall to find some food; working on Email and workshop notes for the youth rally I am speaking and storytelling; had dinner; winding up now and saying goodnight. More on Thursday.
::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

06.24.2008 Tuesday: WOW!

Picture of: package I picked up at the post office containing a book someone wants me to review for them. Too late, the book is already not good, so I won't be reviewing. I wish folks would get good storytelling coaching from a working storyteller coach before they launch these types of projects


Today I In the last week I: have been writing, producing, coaching, running the biz side, contracting; thanks for checking in; I packed up tonight for my Houston trip; I am looking forward to sharing with you all the great things going on- so many new things for you, too!

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

06.12.2008 Thursday: Freedom from Philadelphia

Picture of: a model of the Liberty Bell, this one made of Lego blocks and in the "A" terminal of the Philadelphia airport.

Today I: grabbed the hotel breakfast; packed up my stuff and took the hotel shuttle to the airport; I actually liked both hotels this time around for this long trip; hung out for a bit in the USAirways club as I got to the airport really early; made the long trek from the C terminal to the A terminal- where I found the creation pictured to the left; flew across the country (back to Phoenix) in seat 10F while watching my Ipod, napping, looking out the window and generally trying to not engage my mind in much of anything for the 5 hours of flying; grabbed my luggage and met my family outside the elevators; took a nap; caught up on my storyteller Email; ate dinner with my wife; calling it a night.

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

06.11.2008 Wednesday: Goals

Picture of: my bags at the Philadelphia airport as I wait for the hotel shuttle to whisk me away.

Today I: ate breakfast in my hotel room, it's cheaper (surprise) and easier than the breakfast lounge; wandered back down to the business center to print the joint-venture proposal that I had written the night before; took a cab over to the meeting space as I had to drag all these bags to the meeting- I think the cab driver was mad that the trip was so short- poor guy; attending the marketing meeting where we worked all day with a former producer for the world's largest afternoon talk show (you know which one I mean) to work on pitch(proposal) letters for various media groups; the speaker focused on the same thing that we focus on in our storytellers' marketing camp: NICHE. You really need to come to our camp in August; great lunch and conversation with other folks at this last day of the first phase of this program; shared a shuttle back to the airport with 10 or so other participants; took the hotel shuttle to this hotel I am in now- they have a well trained, customer service oriented front desk staff; ate dinner at the restaurant on the grounds; caught up on Email and site updates; realized my guild has different goals than what I thought it did; rewrote some "immediate goals" for all three areas of my own "Outside In" strategy in the areas of business, artistry and technical skill; that I need to kick off this week; online check in for my flight tomorrow- no upgrades available- cry cry; calling it an early night
::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

06.09.2008 Monday: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

Picture of: the main meeting room for the "summit" meeting I am at (attending) this week for marketing/coaching/networking in Philadelphia.

Today I: found a 20 minute wait for the breakfast buffet at the hotel so I went back to my room, ordered room service and got the meal in 30 minutes and cheaper than had I paid for the buffet; used that 30 minutes to review notes and the map for the event; walked over to the meeting space a few blocks away- directly across from the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall; used storytelling to introduce myself as as storyteller (what we teach in the OISBC!); had many productive, networking conversations within a roomful of motivated, productive, energized people (because of the technique mentioned in the previous line); noted that the main speaker understands how to use storytelling but needs work on technique- at least he is consistently using storytelling to cement in his points; dinner in the hotel (great hotel- not enough meal service space or staff); caught up on email; deleted website spam; talked to my wife on the phone; reviewed notes from the day; heat wave in Philly today. In Arizona, we call this weather "July." And, no, it's not a dry heat; wishing I could sit down with every storyteller I have contact with and personally tell you how much I want you at the next "Outside In Storytelling Marketing Boot Camp" and just how powerful an experience it would be for you. Truly. Honestly. With Great Passion.; goodnight.




::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

06.08.2008 Sunday: Man, Are My Arms Tired.

Picture of: flight 1192 PHX to PHL unloads at the end of a long flight.

Today I: flew from my home to Philadelphia; read a great book on marketing during the plane flight; cab driver this time, as opposed to my last cab driver, said not a single word the entire time from airport to hotel; hotel room is rather large considering it is an east-coast hotel; checked into hotel; at dinner; reviewed maps and notes for Monday; talked to wife on the phone; went to bed.

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

06.02.2008 Monday: "Greatest Storyteller in History"

Picture of: thank-you letter a 3rd grader wrote at school after one of my performances.

Today I: dropped my kids off at the summer movies; went through my mail and found a package of thank-you letters from a school where I did five shows in a row- I love reading these little notes; went to lunch with my wife; worked with a new corporate storytelling client to get documentations to them about my two-decade plus experience in the field of storytelling; sorted through some new ideas for the next series of free conference calls at Storyteller.net- I will post that on Tuesday; cleaned out my suitcases from previous trips to get ready for next week's trip.
::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::