MY SILVER WRIST BAND VISIT TO CUBA

In my mind I am always seeking new and interesting things, but in reality my limited resources get used to the comfortable and the familiar.  Recently came back from my fourth visit to Arenas Doradas in Veradero, Cuba.  It was enjoyable and new ground was covered.

An unexpected bonus was that Sharon and I were given special silver wristbands to identify us as repeat customers.  One of the tangible rewards was a  bottle of rum.  We always liked the people at Arenas Doradas which is a big reason we come back.  I didn't really notice any special treatment from their staff, but they have always been attentive.



A few new experiences for me.

I checked out some caves within walking distance--Cueva Ambrosia.  At first I was given a flashlight, but after wandering around a bit on my own a guide came and explained a few things.  There are no aboriginals that survived in Cuba but they did leave a record.  Bats also lived in caves and they did survive.







Another new experience for me was a brief sailing trip.  The resorts realize that sailing can be dangerous, especially for novices and one particular day was one of the very few in my four years that sailing was allowed.  It was just a catamaran, but it was surprising how fast they can go and that not all sailing is smooth.  You get right close to the water in a catamaran and I got a good dose of salt water.

Going into town in previous years I had been content to take the free shuttle service as the timing seemed acceptable.  This year missed one connection and decided not willing to wait so went on a special double decker bus.  For one low price (5 pesos) you could get off and on the bus all day traveling from the far end of Veradero up to the far end of the Peninsula.  Sent into town for one souvenir shopping expedition I was able to make a second trip (to nail down the best deal we could identify).

There was much that we had tried and liked that was repeated.

A lot of comments about Cuba are about how bland the food is. Part of that no doubt is that they offer all inclusive packages that boil down to buffet dining which in turn is somewhat bland.  However if you are adventuresome some of those weird things can be tasty.  A la carte is usually a step up.  As a few people have commented when you go on longer tours the selected restaurants are pretty good.  We found some of the cooks were very good.

Another aspect we enjoyed was the entertainment.  They had a regular dance troop we watched two times and respect their talent. They brought in a professional Cuban band on our last night and encouraged everyone to be part of the entertainment.  They also have game type events that always make us laugh.  I do remember one emcee calling out the countries of the visitors and getting a few cheers and he added in "anyone here from the United States?"--dead silence and we all laughed.  In fact although Canadians including Quebeckers are in the majority there are people from Britain, Italy, Germany, eastern Europe and South America.  Much of the staff can speak English and French in addition to Spanish.


It rained the last time I visited Josone Park, but this time I made two trips in sunny weather. What I like about it is its natural setting. Plenty of birds, trees.  With three or more restaurants, and paddle boats one can spend several enjoyable hours. A side trip to the Museo Veradero across the road made me aware that the town has a history that is more than just tourism.

Veradero has one of the nicest beaches in the world.  I had thought pelicans were clumsy birds, but I have learned they are very graceful and powerful and willing to come close to humans.

Tourism is important to Cuba, not only because of the raw amount of money, but because it provides jobs.  One big thing is bus drivers.  They take you from the airport to your resort, then they take you into town or on tours.  Of course there are other drivers of taxis and horse carriages.  A lot of people needed  to feed you, to guide you  and to clean up the mess.  I think they sell a lot of rum and cigars which also provides jobs for those who might otherwise be unemployed.  For the most part I find the people wonderful.  At one of our a la carte dinners a couple with their two children were celebrating their anniversary and shared some champagne and cake with other guests including us.  Sharon later played Crazy 8's with them.

One complaint, that might be shared for other tourist destinations is the overwhelming lack of original souvenirs.  We walked by dozens of boutiques and saw pretty much the same trinkets with the same designs. Some of them were attractive, but we wanted something unique.  We bought a piece of art  (paint and wood carving) where we saw the artist putting it together.  It was attractive and we felt we were helping to support someone making a truly artistic effort.

One of my favorite activities is reading.  Sometimes it is nice to have ocean waves in the background and other times to be isolated.  Of course numerous hours in an airplane or waiting for a bus.  Finished five books; two biographies and three novels on my Kobo reader.  I also bought a book on José Marti to read on the plane ride back home.

When we got back to the Toronto airport and waiting for our shuttle bus I remarked that a 20 degree difference was hard to adjust to prompting another person to comment that she too was adjusting to a 20 degree difference, but in her case she was adjusting from Thunder Bay.  Everyone has their own perspective!  Vacations are wonderful.

 

from a previous visit:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2011/04/cuban-memories.html

from another trip:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2012/03/cuban-memories-2012.html 

A CHANGE IN MY SOCIAL MEDIA THINKING

I've gotten my feet wet and like many people just started with social media am wondering if I am making any progress or just wasting my time. Time to do a little assessment and perhaps refine my strategy.

Since this past Christmas I have become more involved with Facebook after a few months of Twitter and a little blogging.  I recently read a book about introverts after reading some books that advocated generating ideas through groups.  "Quiet" by Susan Cain suggested that many people feel more comfortable and are more successful thinking solitarily.  But she more than conceded that the inter-net really opens the synergy of ideas.

I have been told (and read) that social media is about a conversation not a sermon. Many of us start out as "stalkers" meaning we like to read interesting things other people present without revealing anything of ourselves.  Some of us move onto being missionaries spouting off our outlook on life. Almost by accident I have discovered that when you make an attempt to actually help someone or even just to understand them better they are more apt to respond.

Everyone is unique.  A good strategy is to find your niche.  Makes sense.  Like everyone who reads this (and the far greater crowd that is totally unaware of it) I am unique. There are things in life that I have learned I want more of. There are a few things I have learned that seem to put me on a path to getting more of what I want. The two thoughts are very closely connected and can be very compatible.

Being unique means not every body will be interested in what interests me nor that I will be interested in everything that interests them. More basically if we really want to understand and appreciate other people you have to understand and appreciate what interests them.   The more intimate you want to get with another person the more you need to understand their interests.

To get more of what I want, I need to help more people get more of what they want (paraphrasing Zig Ziglar).  Realistically there are only some things or combinations of things that are worth any reader's time. they can get much of what I say elsewhere.  Grabbing the interest of any reader is a challenge.

My plan is to appeal to as wide an audience as I can. No one will be interested in the whole package, but many will be interested in different aspects of my message.

My message is basically here are some things I enjoy that you might also and here are some thoughts that might help you get what you want. A few things you might be tempted to buy or find out more about (and help me pay some bills and have more time to indulge in what I enjoy). Just knowing what you want is a big part of the battle.  Some thoughts might seem like new ideas (or at least re-packaged), but many thoughts are just reinforcements of what you already know.

Can we help each other to enjoy more of life?  Maybe appreciate some beauty that escaped us before or use our resources more optimally to get what we really want.  One thing for sure, nobody made it entirely on their own although many act and pontificate as though they had.

Every thought you ever had might be of interest to or even benefit someone. At the same time most of them will bore the vast majority who either have already thought something very similar or really are focused in a very different direction.  Write to the masses, cater to individuals.  Represent yourself--everyone has something to offer.

Sometimes venturing a thought exposes you to other people.  Don't be afraid of other people's opinions.  they can be helpful or destructive or ignored.

Writing your ideas down forces you to think and reinforces them.  Although I am as vain as anyone, I also benefit from being forced to organize my thoughts.

Or is this all about vanity?  Is that a totally bad thing?

The photo is of Veradero Beach taken through some trees.  

CUBAN MEMORIES 2012

From a book my daughter Heather gave me I appreciate that to enjoy life and motivate yourself it is best to remember pleasant experiences. Vacations are usually pleasant and we owe it to ourselves to remember them. You may not pardon me, but I will be remembering lots of details that might bore you. I'll do my best to make it an enjoyable read.

Sharon, my wife and I have gone to the same resort in Cuba for three years in a row, despite a few negative criticisms. We like the place, and more importantly we like the people. I do pride myself on seeking new experiences to learn and to enjoy, so I do try to expand a little each time.

This time we stuck to Arenas Doradas our resort on the Varadero beach, but I did travel to the town and spent some time there to get a better feel for the local atmosphere.

On our way in from the airport our guide commented that they anticipated a heavy hurricane season. They are conscious of climate change. I have to say that the weather was a big reason we came and it didn't disappoint.

Vacation time is a good time to meet new people. Early in our stay we met a couple, Gilles and Nadia from Laval, Quebec. Found a lot of things to talk about--he was interested in folk dancing, languages (he had taken a short course in Spanish before this visit) and triathlon. Gilles and Nadia had been doing a morning run and made an accidental discovery of interest. They ran by a large pond beside the road and on impulse Nadia threw in a rock and was surprised to see a dolphin swim towards her. They had stumbled on a compound for performing dolphins, but it was free. We visited the next day and enjoyed the dolphins. Another day we encouraged an older couple to check it out.

In the lobby where people grab drinks there is sooner or later a re arrangement of chairs and tables. We ended up being joined by two younger women who couldn't find anywhere else to sit. They were joined by another woman who had met them through a travel agent. She lived in Flesherton and worked in Markdale, small Ontario communities where I had made sales calls. She knew of some things relevant to my job. She also had stayed in different parts of Cuba and told us her experiences.

On a previous trip Sharon and I had taken an organized bus tour of Varadero and saw a few highlights, but in a fast controlled manner. This time twice I took advantage of the free shuttle service from the hotel. A few things caught my attention. There are a lot of interesting restaurants which I regret I didn't visit. I did buy food from street vendors and was very pleased at the taste and the value (cheap). One unique item I bought after being offered a sample was Cuban fritters. They looked like French fries, but were from plantains. Instead of vinegar and salt mine were garnished with sugar and I could have had honey. Nice and sweet.

In town I visited a park, Jasone Parc that the tour bus had whizzed by. It was much larger than I guessed with lots of tropical trees, and a large pond with an island. Restaurants, snack bar, small boat rentals and birds. They had some historic equipment for making sugar from sugar cane.

Much of my time was spent reading, at the beach or in the lobby. I love reading and finished three books and read quite a bit of three other books. The one that got attention was "Sarah's Key" which my wife finished. On the beach she had one very flamboyant swimmer comment that it had made him cry. When I say flamboyant his thong swim suit drew lots of photographers which he encouraged.

I had been curious if the beach extended in town and was pleased to see that it did. Veradero is really a peninsula with over 20 kilometres of beaches.

Each night Arenas Doradas offered entertainment. Most of it consisted of dancers who I thought were quite good. On our last day there was a wedding on the beach. It was public and generated a large audience. It was very simple, but had some of the traditions associated with weddings, but also taking advantage of the location.

Your vacation is not really over until you go back to work. At the airport there is a wait of a couple of hours. Ended up sitting down by an older woman and made small talk for awhile. I pulled out a book I had started reading 'Sarah's Key" and she commented she had just finished it. Before too long we were talking about books, but soon got into both our favorite topic, politics. I learned she and her husband (who joined in) were from Thunder Bay. They had been alerted to a last minute deal by their daughter in law, re-arranged some meetings scheduled and two days later were on their way to Cuba. Her husband pointed out they had deliberately chosen a downtown Veradero hotel so they could get a better feel for how the locals lived. A big surprise for me was that they were both in their 80's, but were obviously able to enjoy their retirement and live a purposeful life.

Back home and trying to catch up. Would I go back? There are so many places to visit, but I want the feelings I felt during my Cuban travels. People are the most important detail in whether you enjoy your holidays. We liked the staff at Arenas Doradas and were able to meet a number of congenial people.

It is unfortunate the politics that makes Cubans such an isolated country (at least from the big spending Americans). Americans have great relations with many rivals such as China and Russia and even the great killer of Americans, Vietnam. The difference is that when Castro kicked out those who supported or accepted the Mafia and the dictator Batista many of them went to Florida where they were able to make things difficult for Cuba. In critical ways they influenced American politics, often in an unhealthy way. The Cubans I was able to meet were pretty decent and hardworking people.

Photos: The upper left hand corner is overlooking the beach from the town of Veradero. Beside that is a photo of a couple married on the beach at our resort. Second photo down the left hand side is at Josone Parc in Veradero. Beside that is myself and Sharon enjoying (and I do mean enjoying) a meal on the beach. The bottom photo is of one of our dolphin encounters.

 

Previous trip:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2011/04/cuban-memories.html

 

TIME MANAGEMENT FOR SALES & OTHER PEOPLE

Does this sound familiar? Like many people these days I find I am a multi-tasker, often when I am procrastinating from a top priority.

We fool ourselves into thinking we can do different tasks at an acceptable level of competence at the same time.  A favorite example of why this is wrong is a very common practice that I indulge in myself; listening to music while eating. It certainly is more pleasant than gobbling food between tasks. If you are really honest you will admit that you are not quite catching all the music which might be better enjoyed laying down in the dark with earphones. On the other hand the music can distract you so that you eat more than you might otherwise or you don't chew as thoroughly as you might otherwise or you might not savor the flavors quite as much. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, but don't kid yourself, you are not getting the most out of either activity.

There are only two things you can do at one time giving them both justice. They are waiting and anything else. If we are really honest most salespeople are really waiting for that easy order--the huge one that comes over the phone and for the whole package with no questions asked. Once in awhile you might get that, but more than likely, success was achieved while doing some work while waiting.  The same thing happens with any task--you can hope someone else does it while giving you credit or do something while you are waiting for that to happen.

Waiting demands patience. Don't jump the gun or you might disqualify yourself or delay more productive efforts. At the same time you have to be ready to leap at what might be a very time sensitive window.

The two most important focuses of a sales person are first to communicate directly with a realistic prospect (a customer is a prospect for a future sale or referral) and the second is to be prepared for that opportunity. Preparing can take an infinite amount of time. It involves knowing all about what you are hoping to sell, identifying reasonable targets for the effort, persuading someone with some influence to let you make your case, presenting in the most optimal manner and following up. If you do all those things fairly well you might do more than sell a few products to one person; you might start a chain of repeats and referrals. Eventually you might receive that mythical phone call (or email).

We all know that some things are more important than others. Some of us have thought deeply and developed goals that tie into what we most value. Having a goal and a purpose is vital to deciding what you should do at any moment. What tasks will contribute to that goal/purpose? How would you rank them in importance?

You want to talk to some important decision maker, but she is busy or on vacation or just not able to give you proper attention. Determining a more acceptable time should be a priority.  If possible you might want to talk to some other person. If that is difficult or not quite the right time you can check your other priorities--identifying other people to talk to, information to master, presentation skills to master, following up on those you talked to before doing the paper work.

A priority that often gets overlooked is rest. You know when you are not rested you don't think quite as clearly, you get irritated more easily and you miss some details that could make a difference.  Two other priorities that get overlooked is the need for exercise and to eat properly. An unhealthy person is handicapped and will find it difficult to keep pace with all the demands of selling (or much of anything else).

There is usually some kind of trade off between time and money.  After all, you want to have some time to enjoy whatever it is you value most.  If you make more money in less time that seems to be the ideal solution, but others feel they not only need to make more money in less time, they need to work longer to get the really precious things they desire. Maybe you have that sort of choice.

A lot of people on a "normal" job are really just waiting for that cheque at the end of the week that will solve a few problems (like food, clothing, shelter and FUN). While they are waiting they might do better to concentrate on doing a good job which to me means being both efficient and effective. If you can satisfy the one paying you, you just might end up not only getting to work more, but to work at something more challenging and rewarding.

Several times a day force yourself to answer this question, "What is the best use of my time right NOW?" Have it flash on your computer, have a note on your desk or on your calendar. If you have done all the preliminary sorting out of what your goals are this question will direct your actions in a productive manner. Maybe all you need is a picture that symbolizes your goal.

For a salesman the real boss is the customer. You don't need to turn everyone into a customer, but you do need to find enough customers to make the effort worthwhile. Everyone should remember that nothing happens until somebody sells something.

A boost to your preparation is to better use data bases.  Check:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2011/10/using-data-bases-for-selling-part-one.html

The photo is of Sharon, my wife in front of a Veradero sunset. I hope to arrange my time in such a way that I can have that view a few more times.