I encourage you to read Rebecca’s blog post and accept her challenge to kick off 2013 with selfless charity. Your effort can be as simple as starting a conversation with someone who seems lonely or volunteering your time at a local shelter. As the blog post explains, sharing has a ripple effect, so spread this along and continue to challenge others to join in this effort. Rebecca’s call to action has inspired me to give even more this year through my personal efforts as well as through the Cimaglia Foundation. Although January has a large emphasis on giving back for us, this is a sentiment that should be ingrained year round. Here’s to contributing to something greater than ourselves in 2013.

In today’s highly connected society of social media, it is vital to recognize and own up to mistakes immediately after they are made, before rumors and assumptions escalate. We have seen examples of honorable yet also terrible crisis communication from companies all across the board: from Tylenol to BP to the most recent tweet-aster, KitchenAid. Without fail, the companies that are praised rather than abhorred are those that immediately and honestly own up to their mistake—the situation is explained fully and a plan is proposed for similar incidents that could occur in the future.

Slate has a weekly post owning up to minor mistakes made in their articles concerning improper grammar or false facts and information. Another great example of owning up to mistakes, as mentioned earlier, was an incredibly unprofessional tweet from @KitchenAidUSA about Obama during the Presidential debate. Almost immediately after the tweet was sent, the Senior Director of Marketing of KitchenAid went onto the company’s Twitter and apologized for what had happened. She apologized to Obama, her Twitter followers and everyone that was affected by the tweet. This response was a great example of effective crisis communication. She acted quickly and strategically.

Not only is important to own up to our blunders, it is also crucial to learn from them. As Jack Welch has stated, “An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.” One huge source of learning comes from our own inaccuracies throughout our personal and professional lives. Making mistakes, learning from them and planning accordingly so they do not repeat themselves is a vital part of growth in a personal or business setting. This is especially true for start-ups. Start-up companies are continuously growing, learning more and more about themselves and their field with each working day. Learning how to bounce back and recover from a mistake is why they are worth making. Quoting Jack Welch once more, “I’ve learned that mistakes can often be as good a teacher as success.”

Making our own mistakes and learning from those that were made before us is what keeps us innovating rather than backtracking. Life can be a game of trial and error: we learn what works and what doesn’t through failures and successes. By prohibiting your business to risk a few missteps here and there for overall growth, your company will likely remain stagnant in a continuously developing world.

Click here for even more inspirational Jack Welch quotes.

Uber is an innovative transportation company used by young professionals all over the city. Tens of thousands of Chicagoans rely on Uber to arrive at their destination in the most reliable, speedy and safe fashion. Uber is simple to use and exceptionally more comfortable and efficient than the average taxi or CTA option. Uber has been around for a year now and we want them around for much, much longer.

Do your part to save Uber!

• Email BCP telling them to “Remove the No Measured Rates Provision (PPV Sec. 1.10)”
  • The opportunity to comment on these regulations ends Nov. 9th, so say something now!
• Contact city officials telling them to “Remove the No Measured Rates Provision (PPV Sec. 1.10)”
  • Rosemary Krimbel, BACP Commissioner: email her at rosemary.krimbel@cityofchicago.org, or Tweet to @RKrim
  • The Mayor’s Office: write on his Facebook wall, or Tweet to @ChicagosMayor
  • Mayor Emanuel: email him at rahm.emanuel@cityofchicago.org, or write on his Facebook wall
  • Email your Alderman

Your efforts matter. Spread the word and use the hashtag #UberCHILove.

It has now been a year since I embarked on a journey to reach a goal that changed my life. I climbed Mount Everest Basecamp for a vacation, a challenge, and left with newfound perspective. The following story recounts this trip.

First the back tires, then the front tires, then hard on the brakes. The engines never stopped. We were quickly marshalled off of the plane and onto the uneven path. I looked over my shoulder at the runway’s sudden beginning and calculated sloppily. It became obvious that we needed almost every inch of that blacktop and really could have used a few more.

Before long we were successfully herded and made to follow the guides and sherpas who had taken our baggage; “So, why Everest?” was a common refrain among the tourists and the travellers. The answers were synonymous. Many professionals were looking for a new way to fail. People, ambitious people at least, were looking for higher and higher peaks to climb. After a while some ran out of peaks in their offices or their homes so they turned to exotic locations and real mountains to replace the molehills of modernity. I am one of these people, and their explanation is my own.

I have been running a video production company called Cimaglia Productions since age 20, focusing exclusively on it since I was 25. Now almost 30 on my first real vacation, following sherpas to Mount Everest Base Camp with only a pad of paper to record my ideas and a satellite phone to communicate with the office for nearly three weeks. These are the only connections to my life in this wilderness. I can’t let either out of my hands for long. It’s not that I don’t want to step away for a bit, I just don’t know how else to live. That’s why I needed that phone and especially that pad of paper.

I spent seven months training my body to handle the extreme conditions of Mount Everest coupled with many more months of training my team to run my company without me; these precautions have prepared me to climb this mountain. Physically, I was ready to climb and mentally I could allow the company to run without me. But I needed those security blankets, my phone and paper-pad, more than my office needed me in my absence. I could mostly focus on my journey, my mountain, and let my mind work itself out as I walked, stopping sometimes to jot down ideas for myself or my company. But I could never let go entirely.

Climbing always up, though sometimes down for just a second or two—a little joke we had going with the mountain—we kept on our path. We came to gorges, and crossed them over narrow, swaying rope bridges with more air than wood for bottoms but adorned with versicolor player flags. I touched their rough linen as I passed them. A sherpa told me they blew prayers whichever way they’re blown. On the route to Mount Everest base camp it was frequently windy causing benedictions to have been rained down upon us. In stark juxtaposition to these flags stood silent towers of stone tenderly-stacked as unmoving memorials to those who had fallen on the mountain. Despite being continually crawled upon, it holds the power in any relationship. The mountain makes the men and women who climb it, molding those who succeeded, breaking those who did not, yet unchangeable no matter the results.

The expedition found themselves silently in thought more and more often the farther they walked. I can’t say with certainty for the whole group, but for myself, I was lost in thought—though I’m not sure if it could have been classified as meditation—trying to find myself without the company to define me. I had been entirely consumed by my company—personally and professionally—that I was having immense difficulty knowing who I was without it. To me, the questions “who are you?” and “what is your job?” were interchangeable; each time I relished answering, “CEO.” But on the mountain, there are no professions. There is only nature in all its terror and glory. Deep in thought, I walked slowly and sometimes steeply, but always up, to Mount Everest Base Camp.

At nights we stayed at places that could only be described as nondescript. Imperfect copies of platonic log cabins. Rustic, crafted from rough-hewn wood all knotted and streaked with grains. Bunks were low on the wall. A thin mattress jutted out covered by simple sheets and a warm blanket. They always had beautiful views, breathtaking cliffs or alpine slopes, out of smudged glass. Reflecting on what I had written during that day’s hike, I would flip through my notebook. Sometimes I would call my second in command back in Chicago to talk about business: new ideas needing research and vetting, or plans for the next step that needed preparation. Being able to approach my business from a new angle was refreshing. Discussing bigger-picture issues, things I could finally let myself consider because I could look beyond the minute and the mundane. The proof of this renewal is in the pen, or more precisely on the pad of paper, and I have the change in elevation—altitude and attitude—to thank for this process.

I came on this trip with an obvious but ultimately fleeting goal, and accomplished something else entirely. I came to reach base camp, to make the journey and to see myself do it. Instead, my greatest reward came from my own thoughts. Freed from the day-to-day vulgarities of running my business, given an immense amount of time to contemplate, and distracted by the overwhelming physical process of hiking, I was able to let my mind sit in stillness. Maybe vulgarity is too harsh, but there is truth to the phrase familiarity breeds contempt. I loved my work, having married myself to it a decade now, but like all powerful relationships, there is a risk of emotional or spiritual suffocation. The mountain allowed me to escape the superstructure of anxiety and pressure that builds up around such a powerful relationship, literally pushing me above the clouds and providing me with a new perspective for understanding and improving my role within the company.

With my feet constantly moving, my hand frequently writing, and my mind perpetually in motion, I made good time to base camp, arriving just as some severe air traffic disrupting weather rolled through. I coughed away a few miserable days before finally trekking back to my planned extraction point. Here, however, no extraction was forthcoming. Grounded, my cough continually worsened—eventually diagnosed as khumbu cough—with the weather day after day. Until, felicitously, I got out on a wing, my wits, and my amex. I finally evacuated the mountain via helicopter. I came back to Chicago not only with a great story, but with a new way of looking at my day-to-day life. I never left the mountain, I just took it with me.

Much like dating, we can also judge a company by its “cover” and later realize the partnership that was started between two business is not as compatible as we first suspected. As a growing company, Cimaglia Productions is always looking to partner with new companies and work with other businesses. It is safe to say that some companies are more eye-catching than others with either websites, social media, proposals, or anything else. We know from past experiences that some companies may present themselves rather well or look amazing on paper, but their ability to meet the image they expose does not match up. Some companies have perfected their image and how they come across to other companies, but fail to provide the efforts that they promise. This is why it is important to note that some companies who have all the talent may put little effort into their outside appearance while others spend all their time on their appearance and little time improving the abilities they are marketing.

If an organization raises expectations through their image, they must meet these expectations or they will come up short and their partners or clients will chose to stop doing business with them. This is why the image and ability of a company must be synonymous. If you are a new company and are still figuring things out, say so! Some companies may be willing to take a chance on you. However, if you exaggerate your talents by saying you are new and already experts in your field but come up short, you will only be hurting yourselves. In order for a company to do well and maintain partnerships with either freelancers or other businesses, they should have a nice external appearance that accurately represents their abilities. What is promised on a website, through social media or in a proposal must always be demonstrated when it comes down to the actual work.

Alexander Graham Bell did not invent the iPhone and Steve Jobs did not invent the original telephone. However, Apple could not have created the iPhone nor could they continue to make improvements, providing us with what is now the iPhone 5, if it weren’t for Alexander Graham Bell and his discoveries in the late 1800’s. We’ve advanced from Bell’s original telephone to phones such as the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S III through collaboration. Many technologies, innovations, apps, games, etc. that we use every day would not have been possible if it weren’t for the collaboration of two or more innovators. Part of being a creator is allowing feedback and changes from others in order to expand the original apparatus to become more than was ever planned. When Alexander Graham Bell created the telephone, it’s highly unlikely that he saw today’s smart phones as the future outcome of his discoveries. A creation rarely stops after the creator either passes or leaves it to rest. Another entrepreneur can pick up and expand the invention while others continue adding on top of the original product until it becomes something larger than life.

We can focus on the grand things that took transformations to an original invention such as the telephone, the airplane, hybrid cars, etc., but teamwork comes in many different forms and affects smaller efforts as well. When I create something new, I look forward to seeing reactions, comments and improvements from others filter in from all angles. It’s interesting and exceptionally helpful when friends, co-workers or even strangers give feedback to any creation of mine, adapting it to reach its full potential. As an entrepreneur, I have the pleasure of overseeing joint efforts in nearly everything I do: in the videos my company produces, in apps I contrive, and within the expansion of my production company itself. Gaining varied outlooks from acquaintances in order to better my work is an invaluable part of what I do. It is exhilarating to watch an idea I put out to the world motivate others to think outside the norm as innovators. I inspire others to expand upon a concept and in turn incorporate their suggestions into the developments. It requires an even amount of give and take to produce something exceptional.

Collaboration sparks imagination and creativity and evokes new thoughts and perspectives. Picking up on an invention that another creator began is inspiring and can provide life-changing outcomes. Rarely does an innovator or entrepreneur accomplish his/her most memorable achievements without the guidance or encouragement of others. Collaboration is necessary in the process of creating and adapting innovations on massive and minute scales alike.

Steve Jobs
February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011

Confidentiality and dependability are two main qualities I always look for in deciding whether or not to work or partner with another company. Especially concerning privacy, I need the company’s values and protocol to be synonymous with that of my company. I need to rest assured that the immediate needs of my company are being met at all angles. Sorenson Media (@SorensonMedia) has proved itself to qualify for all these requirements continuously for over a decade now. I have had the pleasure of working with this software company since the beginning of my professional career and they have yet to let me down. At Cimaglia Productions we use Sorenson Media software on every project.

Having developed a personal relationship with Sorenson Media, I felt it was only natural for me to contribute to Sorenson 360, an online video streaming platform. At Cimaglia Productions, my employees and I had specific company needs involving easier and more secure ways to share production content with our clients and I knew that Sorenson Media would have the ability and willingness to make this idea a reality.

Without companies like Sorenson Media, we would have to mail physical DVDs containing our production content rather than simply hosting this material in the cloud. With Sorenson, I am also able to track how many views we’ve received on our videos. We’ve had a total of 6,000 views on our Sorenson account in just one month alone. Having a close relationship with a company like Sorenson is immeasurable; they are essential for the daily operations of Cimaglia Productions.

Beyond my contributions to Sorenson 360, many other great features are being offered for ease of use such as centrally appended comments, a new review and approval process through Sorenson Squeeze, and free permanent storage.

Read the article: New Streamlined Review and Approval Functionality with Sorenson 360 to learn more about Sorenson 360 and Squeeze.

There is one specific video that has been capturing worldwide attention several weeks in a row. Reaching 2,940,340 likes as of September 27, this video has even made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for most YouTube likes. The video I am referring to, of course, is “Gangnam Style” starring Park Jae-Sang, known to us as PSY. “Gangnam Style” went viral worldwide in a matter of a week or less and continues to be newsworthy two months after its release. The song itself has rapidly crawled its way up from number 64 on Billboard 100 to the number 2 spot in merely two weeks. Everyone, even Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, is dying to learn not only PSY’s moves but how he became the hottest commodity in such little time.

PSY has essentially taken over the world with his Gangnam Style music video and choreography. Having been a well-known rapper in South Korea, his Gangnam Style video went viral worldwide in a matter of a few weeks. Whether you enjoy the song, hate how easily it gets stuck in your head, love or hate the dance moves, you most likely are currently or will soon become addicted to Gangnam Style. PSY’s video has currently reached over 250 million views, a continously growing number—and that doesn’t even include all the hits of Gangnam Style parody videos, each having its own massive amount of viewers. He has appeared on shows such as Ellen Degeneres, the Today Show, Saturday Night Live and even the VMA’s. Though the video and dance moves may be silly, his rapid success that amounted from the ridiculousness is unbelievably impressive. No matter how many times each individual has seen the Gangnam Style official video or attempted the dance, the world is nowhere near tired of PSY or Gangnam Style, which is evident based on the amount of press each is receiving. What’s amazing is that it’s not the video or dance moves alone that have topped the charts. The song itself is ranked number 1 on iTunes in 31 different countries.

The song is catchy, the dance moves are simple and the tagline—“Dress classy, dance cheesy”—is easily adoptable by all. Because of these facts, many YouTube users have created parodies of “Gangnam Style,” causing the music video to be breaking news on nearly a daily basis. Though most of us in the U.S. only fully understand one short line of his song, “hey sexy ladies,” we still find Gangnam Style stuck in our heads more often than we choose to admit. The music video itself is just outrageous enough for us to become obsessed. Combine the song and music video with those signature dance moves and we are all hooked. Whether its at the club or in the privacy of their own home, everyone yearns to give Gangnam style a try. In case we haven’t already made it blatantly obvious, we love every aspect of Gangnam Style, including PSY himself. Having just signed with Schoolboy Records, it’s unpredictable where he will ride his invisible horse to next, but we can rest assured that it is nowhere near time to say goodbye to PSY.

As a tribute to PSY and all of his success and because of how unbelievably popular he has become, we decided to include a Gangnam Style Collection in the app I recently launched, Dance Video App.

Click here to view full article on Cimaglia Productions

Because this app is drastically different than most of our focuses at Cimaglia Productions, it was entertaining to piece together and I hope that the fun we had in the creation of the app is synonymous with all the users who download it. It was also exciting for me to combine two of my largest interests, video production and entrepreneurship, for such a fun project that is available to virtually anyone with an iPhone or iPad.

I created Dance Video App through Workprint Innovations, a company that is continuously growing. Workprint Innovations designs, develops, and distributes video production related applications for mobile devices. Creating Dance Video App has opened a window of creative opportunity for me, letting in many more ideas for future apps; this definitely will not be the end of Workprint Innovations’ app creations.

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