Every now and then – actually about every 10 years, it seems – the stars align and Boston becomes an East Coast version of "Brigadoon." This feels like another one of those years.
From a professional sports perspective, Boston is on fire! The Red Sox won the World Series, the Patriots are on the verge of making pro football history and are seen by many as the best team ever, and the Celtics are rampaging through the NBA. 2008 could be the year when Boston is home to three championship sports teams.
And to top it off, the FPA annual conference is coming to "Bean town" October 4-7 to join the ranks of "best ever" events.I've been working on the task force under Marc Freedman ("Marc the Merciless" we call him when he's not listening!) for about five months now and the shape and themes of FPA Boston 2008 really seem to be forming. We've been keeping the "revolutionary thinking" theme front-brain as we sift through hundreds of potential topics and speakers, trying to find that perfect combination of new and exciting… but not so "out there" that only three people understand (or care about) the topic. Nobody on this task force wants to build a ho-hum-now-where-is-that-CE-credit-sheet-dull conference—and it sure looks like that won't happen!
I'm working with Mike Branham in pulling together the Leadership Track. We're having a lot of fun mixing up an exciting combination of useful "how-to" sessions with inspirational opportunities to hear lessons learned from great leaders who have really made a difference in the world or their profession/business. (Let' see: I wonder if we could get Tom Brady (Patriots QB) or Jason Varitek (Red Sox captain)?) We also want to give everyone who's interested a chance to learn about—and practice—building your leadership muscles to help you be of greater service to your profession, your family or your community.
Working on the "Best of Boston" concept is fun too! It's amazing how many great minds (and speakers) can be found around the Charles River or hanging around Harvard, MIT, BU, BC, Bentley and all our other ivy-covered halls of learning. We're going to have a whole bunch of great minds to educate, entertain and otherwise make you all wish you lived in Boston—the "Athens of America," as some would have it!
Sam Hull