(Madison, WI) Phew! The 2006 YP Summit ended with a BANG on Saturday night, when Mayor Dave revoked all attendees’ return plane tickets, forcing them to relocate to Madison. Mayor Dave told me that he wanted Madison to host the Summit until the end of time. I told him he’d probably be overruled by the many attendees who really, really, really want to host it next year.
It was my honor to do the closing keynote. In case you were not in attendance - or there, but boozy - here were the main points:
- YP leaders: your time is NOW.
- All YP leaders - especially the “Wonderbread” White ones - need to diversify. Join the Urban League. Attend networking events at your local Hispanic Chamber. But start getting the diversity thing NAILED in your community, because talent doesn’t know race or gender or ethnicity or religion or sexual orientation. Talent just is. And we need all talent to make great places to live and work.
- Think about where you hang your hat of identity. If you hang your hat on work, reconsider. Remember the 5 Balls.
- Let go of the people, habits and to-do’s that no longer serve you.
- Remember: if you put the people together the right way, the world goes together easily.
I want to wish all the YP Summit attendees the very, very best. Having you all together in Madison was like taking a dose of adrenaline right in the chest - your energy, ideas, innovation, and leadership inspire us to do an even better job at serving you. Thanks for the opportunity, and we’ll see you soon!
