Fred Rogers — Mister Rogers to many of us — provided an important reminder years ago that when things go bad, always look for the helpers. It’s advice I believe we all would do well to follow as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the lives of our families, friends and communities.
What’s amazing is that you don’t have to look very far or long to see the good that Mister Rogers asked us to seek. Overnight, I have seen my Twitter stream fill with examples of helpers.
Companies like GG Hospitality, which closed its hotels to make them available for the NHS.
Companies like Bigleaf Networks, which accelerated the development of a new product to help essential services organizations communicate more reliably in our new work-from-home reality (and made it free to them, too).
Companies like Untappd, which quickly used its platform to help food workers, bartenders, and retail establishments that are taking an economic hit because of the virus.
We ❤️ this industry. Today, we introduce a site that connects customers with impacted venues to facilitate to-go and delivery orders. https://t.co/UZZSf4GHTF (a working title that nods to our founder, @gregavola) is a global list of all venues on Untappd…
Companies like Linode, which dedicated cloud infrastructure to Folding@Home to help scientists find antibodies to combat viruses like COVID-19, and its Kubernetes engine to Penn Medicine’s Hospital Impact Model for Epidemics to help hospitals with COVID-19 capacity planning.
We donated servers managed by Linode Kubernetes Engine to support @PennMedicine's digital tool helping hospitals with COVID-19 capacity planning. Shout out to @beckerfuffle's team for developing the tool and @CodeForPhilly for helping deploy it: https://t.co/gvlwAhFqm9
Practice social distancing & stream ‘London Calling: Live In Hyde Park’ from the comfort of your own home, now on YouTube & Apple Music in its entirety for the 1st time! Bruce & The E Street Band’s 2009 concert is an absolute powerhouse https://t.co/O90QlPBalOpic.twitter.com/MlQmV8wslS
This is just what I’ve seen in my own network. Surely, there are more examples of Mister Rogers’ helpers. If you see them in your networks, reach out or drop them into the comments and I’ll update the post.
I didn’t plan it, but the past year ended up being one of rediscovery.
I celebrated my 50th lap around the sun rekindling my love of skiing. I closed the year out getting back on my mountain bike. In between I took advantage of opportunities to re-explore some of things that have made me successful in my career and passionate in the hobbies I pursue.
2019 was a good start to the next 100 laps.
As people get older, they have a tendency to reflect on things not done, places not visited, dreams unfulfilled. Because, let’s face it, life gets in the way of best intentions. It’s far too easy to let what was missed overshadow what was experienced.
Such is the perch I choose to look at my life this past year. Were there things I wanted to do that I didn’t? You bet. Were there awesome things I ended up doing that I didn’t see coming? Yes. Yes there were.
My journey as a photographer continued. I created a bunch of memorable images and found my zone in portrait and street photography. Finding that zone was something that’s been eluding me for years. It shouldn’t have, though. It’s at the core of what I do for a living and where I get the most joy in my life: observing and telling the stories of other humans. This year I also began to get a better feel for my individual shooting style, something I often hear other people say they see in my images, but have never been able to see myself.
I continued to put a focus on shooting more portraits. What I didn’t expect was seeing that focus give me the opportunity to collaborate with professional models like Courtney and Jooj (who was signed by Joy Talent Agency and you can see on QVC).
I also saw a number of organizations approach me to shoot commercial images based not only on my photography background, but also because of my background in public relations. Organizations like Linode, The Black Bass Inn and Lumberville General Store, and The Quaker School at Horsham. It’s a potent combination I will continue to explore and one I think every company should be thinking about as they look for new, creative and powerful ways to tell their own stories.
Speaking of which, 2019 saw me get back into the corporate communications game, taking on a very cool contracting role leading corporate communications for Linode — a 16 year old, $100 million company based in Philadelphia that is making cloud computing simpler, more affordable, and more accessible to all. It’s an exciting opportunity to help build a communications function and do it for an organization with a mission and people that align to my philosophy of thinking bigger than the products a company sells. I continue to advise and consult exciting startups like RackN, which builds software to do the heavy lifting required to make IT infrastructure work; and Bigleaf, which has used a contrarian view of cloud connectivity to make the Internet more reliable.
2019 also saw words and phrases I wrote grace corporate web sites and a global magazine. As part of my work with Linode, I had the pleasure of digging into the company’s and the industry’s history to build their corporate narrative. You can check it out here. My trip report from our visit to Thailand in 2018 was published in Photo Plus, the top magazine for Canon users around the world. Yeah, that one felt all kinds of good for the ego, I’m not going to lie.
Community remained an important part of my life. I donated my photography skills to local organizations doing good work for organizations like CB Cares, Heritage Conservancy, the Thompson Bucks County Classic, and the Central Bucks School District’s music department. I also wore my photojournalist hat to capture student led rallies and demonstrations in Doylestown. I encourage each of you to take what you do best and find a way to use it to help organizations in your own communities.
I got involved in politics, refusing to sit on the sidelines while our democracy is dismantled. I used my messaging, communications and photography toolset to help get a good human — Jordan Yeager — elected to judge in my county. It was my first campaign and won’t be my last.
Throughout it all, I still found time to get out on my bike. It was a mix of shorter rides this year, but there were many, allowing me to add a decent year of mileage to my Strava profile. I even rolled up to the starting line for my first criterium…and rightly got blown off the back after making a dumb rookie move early in the race. I’ll be back to race again in 2020. I closed out the year doing something I haven’t done in 15 years: mountain biking. And, as it should be, I took my re-maiden pedal not on an easy canal trail, but in the rocky woods of Wissahickon on a cold December night.
But what I treasure most from 2019 was watching my daughters grow into amazing, talented, adventurous, caring and passionate, young adults.
I visited the city of San Diego this week as part of my pay-the-bills, use-that-college-education day job. These are a few of the images I created walking to and from meetings. Each of the images was captured with the new iPhone 11.
Seven Thoughts on Bruce Springsteen for His 70th Birthday: Springsteen and the E Street Band always play “Born to Run” with the house lights all the way up, an aesthetic decision that feels right even if it’s hard to articulate why.
How I Learned to Cycle Like a Dutchman: “Where are our helmets?” my daughter Harper asked. We were standing outside a cycle shop in the Dutch city of Delft, along with Harper’s older sister, Lyra, and my wife, Alia. “We didn’t buy any,” I replied.
To decarbonize we must decomputerize: why we need a Luddite revolution: Our built environment is becoming one big computer. “Smartness” is coming to saturate our stores, workplaces, homes, cities. As we go about our daily lives, data is made, stored, analyzed and used to make algorithmic inferences about us that in turn structure our experience of the world.
A Year in Paris That Transformed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: As a college student, Jacqueline Bouvier spent her junior year in Paris, and the city became one of the greatest influences in her life. In August 1949, a 20-year-old Jacqueline Bouvier arrived in France and began a year that would change her life.
Last place Luigi, the Giro’s greatest loser: The story of Luigi Malabrocca, the man who captured the hearts of the tifosi on his annual mission to finish bottom of the pile at the Giro d’Italia.
Last year I taught The Michener Museum’s first photography workshop for kids. It was part of a pilot project for their summer session. It apparently went well because they asked me to come back and expand on it this summer.
I’ll be conducting four pop-up workshops at the museum. The first is focused on portraits, followed by sessions on abstract photography, still life and wrapping up with my favorite topic: storytelling.
If you have a child who is interested in photography or know someone who does, these should be fun. Registration details are below.
Growing up in a small northwestern New Jersey town, I learned early on about what it means to be part of a community — from zone defense parenting to knowing there was always an open door if you needed help, from post game passing the hat for ice cream at Herbie’s to firemen’s festivals straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. Thinking of those around you was a natural part of my childhood.
When we moved to Doylestown, Pa., about 15 years ago, we found ourselves part of a similar community. One of the bricks in its foundation is the human tour de force, Kimberly Cambra. Kimberly is the spark and fire behind an organization called the CB Cares Educational Foundation. She and her team have an inimitable way of rallying their fellow community members to support the foundation’s mission of delivering programs and grants to promote resilient and responsible youth.
For the past four years, I’ve volunteered at the foundation’s annual Celebrity Chef & Waiter Gala, channeling my inner Mark Seliger to bring a little portrait magic to the festivities. Two of my favorite chefs, Elaine and Jeff Cohen, always come dressed in their finest themed garb. This year’s theme was Italy. Joining them in my gallery for the first time was Aldo Nerone Bove, Altomonte’s wine educator, who sported a killer Ventresca jacket that matched the vino in his glass.
Woke up to see that an old – I mean, OLD – iPhone image I shot and licensed under Creative Commons chosen to help illustrate an article about Huawei on MSN. I shot the image from Mel Gibson’s apartment in Cannes during the 3GSM conference. The company I was working for at the time rented it out for press meetings.
Tomorrow, residents of Bucks County head to the polls to vote in the Pennsylvania primaries. One of the most important races on the ballot is for Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. I encourage you to cast your vote for Jordan Yeager for this vital judicial role.
I have had the pleasure and privilege of helping Jordan’s campaign as a communication strategist and photographer. I know Jordan to be thoughtful, compassionate, fair and, above all, human. He was raised in Bucks County and used his personal experience growing up to dedicate his career pursuing justice for all.
Jordan is a tireless advocate for the environment and the powerless. He has broad litigation experience across the many types of cases that come before the Court of Common Pleas. His work has earned him the distinction as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer and an entry in the history books when he won the first case in history to have a state law declared unconstitutional because it violated the environmental rights of Pennsylvania residents.
Jordan has been overwhelmingly endorsed by a who’s who of organizations and politicos — including the Conservation Voters of PA, which, for the first time in its 10 year history, has backed a candidate for the Court of Common Pleas. I join them with my full and unequivocal support for Jordan Yeager. I encourage you to give Jordan your support, too.
Judicial candidates are cross-filed, so they will appear on both sides of the ballot:
DEMOCRATS, push 11A REPUBLICANS, push 7B
Every vote is crucial tomorrow. Cast yours for Jordan Yeager to ensure a future of justice for all.
Mike Maney 