Happy Mother’s Day!

May 13, 2012 by Raul Colon

I am really enjoying this weekend. The same reason I did not create a long post for Mother’s day. I wanted to make sure that I took the time to relax and get many things out of the way so Today Sunday I could spend time with Mom, Grandma, Lucy, and Lucy’s Family.

I also wanted to take the opportunity to share Rick’s Spanish Version of Daddyknows which we will be publishing soon in both languages on Papaheroes.com.

I hope you all have an awesome weekend and spend time with your love ones!

A big hug to all the MOM’s especially Mine, Lucilla, Myriam Gonzalez (my spiritual mom and Daniela’s Godmother), Grandma Lydia, and Grandma America (Rest In Peace)!

English Version of Daddyknows

Experimenting. A Solution to Analysis Paralysis

May 10, 2012 by Raul Colon

I love taking experimenting with new things and taking risks. Like every other person when I take a risk of doing something new, I know there is a probability of failing. However that does not stop me from trying out new things.

The older I get the more I realize that to achieve results you have to attempt things and get them running. On some occasions given lack of resources you might not have an option but too attempt it yourself. The reality is that taken this attitude will also bring many failures that will eventually take you to bigger and successful projects.

Analysis Paralysis

I see many people like you and me that could accomplish great things if they at least started things and later tweaked it along the way. A mistake I made when I set up my first project, as a small business owner in 2008 was the excessive planning I did without finding the proper balance on the execution side. I attempted to run my small company as the companies I consulted and worked for. I analyzed deeply every possibly situation which resulted in delaying the process where I could start recovering the resources I had invested.

Identifying Opportunities

Once I see an opportunity I go after it. Now research and analysis consists of trying to see how I can get to where I need to be with the least resources so I can start a project.

My Latest Experiments

Photography

About a month ago I had the opportunity to spend time with Alan Weinkrantz. While he was taking Pictures in Old San Juan he gave shared some great advice on why I should take my own pictures and not use Creative Commons.

For the past month I have spend a considerable amount of time using Instagram and my Point and Shoot Camera (Ricoh CX2 ← Affiliate Link) capturing images which I can use in my blog posts, presentation, and other projects. Alan helped me understand that capturing images enhances the experience of sharing my story.

Creating Video

The other day I had the privilege to learn a few things from Bianca Estrada (@biancaest) who creates some really neat videos for Payasa Agapita. Bianca and her husband Fernando took their time and drove for 2+ hours to my house. We quickly setup a green screen to create a tutorial on how easy it could be done if you just wanted to have fun. It was a neat learning experience because when we saw the end product we realized we have many things we need to improve upon.

For me it was a win situation because I saw the unique creative process Bianca and her husband Fernando use to create a videos like the one below.

Don’t Let the Experts Say You can’t do it.

I can sit here and de-construct the many glitches I found on the video I did with Bianca and Fernando and worry about how we did not get the results we expected. I rather take a different approach and look at what I gained when I published the video below when others might think we should have not shared it.

Listen to Experts that Encourage You

When it comes to video I love listening and learning from my friend Steve Garfield back in 2010 he convinced me that to create video all I needed to do was have a device that could capture video. He also wrote Get Seen: Online Video Secrets to Building Your Business ( ← Amazon Affiliate Link), I consider it a manual towards creating online video. Overall Steve does a great job at sharing his knowledge on creating videos with others.

Thanks to the glitches the video above had we received constructive criticism from someone who had some great suggestions on how we could improve our Green Screen effects video. He also accepted to create a more advanced tutorial which will be publishing as a guest post in a day or two so feel free to subscribe to my blog and receive it directly via email.

Use the Experts when You Can

My previous message of not listening to the experts does not mean you should not use them. I am a fan of hiring experts for more professional matters and things I don’t feel capable of doing. To create my logos and creative images on my website I use Rick Lipsett. When I wanted to get a new Avatar I hired my high school friend and professional photographer Cesar Santiago. Even to Cut the Grass I hire landscapers because they do a better and quicker job at it.

Maybe one day I might be able to hire the expertise of Tommy Walker from Inside the Mind to create the storyline and edit my videos or my friend Alfredo Richner from Puerto Rico Indie to shoot the video locally. Until I can afford it I will have to give it a try on my own.

I believe success is doing the things you like to do and staying away from having to do those that you don’t like.

I rather try something and fail. By not trying it you keep yourself away from the experience or opportunity to learn and improve it.

So do me a favor try something new this week?

Do something that might be out of your comfort zone?

Once you accomplish it share with those around you and listen to their feedback?

Are you up for the challenge?

Connecting Art & 2 Very Talented Ricardos Via My iPhone

November 15, 2011 by Raul Colon

A bit more than a month I had to visit my sick grandma in Connecticut and had the opportunity to attend one of the Hispanic Heritage Events that my client the Puerto Rican Parade of Fairfield County (prpfc.org) ran. The event was bringing local artists and artisans to show their work along with a live music and drinks.

I was invited to the event by the @PRPFC committee and I had the opportunity to meet a few individuals who I have been communicating with online and I wanted to meet in person. Having the opportunity to meet a few of them which I will leave for another post was an awesome opportunity which brought me closer to seeing all the work the folks at the @PRPFC accomplishes.

Connecticut’s Latino Talent

During the evening I had the chance to bump into a photographer and artist named Ricardo Murillo (@SELFMATHEMATIKS) who had a table setup sharing some of his work. While talking to Ricardo who is from Salvadorian and Costa Rican parents I was able to connect with him since he had visited Puerto Rico a year before to work for the Latin Billboards which where hosted in San Juan.

Ricardo had captured many neat images of San Juan, one of the images he captured was a whale from a mural in Santurce. Ricardo had been searching for the author of that mural for some time and had not identified them. I quickly snapped a picture on my smart phone sent it to my good friend and Puerto Rico Art Encyclopedia @ricklipsett and within minutes I was able to give Ricardo the name of the author.

Ricardo Lipsett my good friend who I have written about in my blog previously because of how talented he is and he was the mastermind behind this blog’s logo and @cimapr’s logo was able to provide me detailed information on the mural even an article he had written in 2009 on the mural. He provided the artists real and artist’s name.

Puerto Rican Art Displayed in Times Square

The reason Ricardo Murillo had been searching for the artist was because part of the mural would be in display in Times Square and he wanted the original mural artist to get adequate attribution.

With the effort of Ricardo Murillo and the help of Rick Lipsett we where able to identify who should get attribution for the work of art. To many this might not mean much but too me the fact of connecting interesting facts and learning more about art via a relationships that pretty much started online is something that I would like to happen more often.

I want to thank Rick Lipsett for always giving me a helping hand and I want to thank Ricardo Murillo for taking one of our local Puerto Rican Artists like Nepo who create the mural and exposing their art at a key place like times square.

Without the power of online platforms and smartphone the task of finding such interesting facts would be much more complicated.

Do you have anecdote or experience that was enhanced by online presence and/or a smartphone?

To read a bit more about Ricardo Murillo here is a link written by the Connecticut Post.

Stratford photographer featured on Times Square billboard

More of Ricardo Murrillo

Choosing a Business Partner

June 28, 2011 by Raul Colon

I went to sleep late doing more of what I love. The first weeks of launching PapaHeroes.com is going better than what we imagined.

I made the best choice of choosing a partner in doing this project since Rick Lipsett has the same energy and commitment level as I do. If it was not for Rick we would have not launched Papaheroes.com on Father’s day. I have to say that his ideas and way of looking at things come from a completely different angle and are very useful.

Rick has the unique ability of transforming my ideas into art in a matter of seconds. Not only does he deliver but he delivers with more than you expected. After many months of working with him I have always been surprised on how great his work is.

Rick has the following qualities that make him a great business partner:

Great Communicator

Rick has the ability to communicate in a very effective way. He listens to you and makes sure he gets as much details as he can by asking precise questions. His writing is also something I want to learn from since he can convey a message in an efficient but extremely fun way.

Strengths to offset my weaknesses

We are all good at some things and terrible at others. There have been instances where I thought I had done a good job and Rick does an even better job. This type of situation helps me focus on my strengths and allowing Rick to take care of what he does better than me. This results in an awesome final product!

Storyteller

Rick can capture you with his words every time he writes. His storytelling abilities are right up their with his other awesome skills. If you don’t believe me feel free to get to know Rick on our Papaheroes.com site and read his bio.

Savvy Business Partner

After many years working with Digital Artists and Graphic Designers (which are not the same read Rick’s post on the explanation) I had never met one that was so responsible. Rick makes sure he delivers what he offered.

Big Sense Of Urgency

I work along many individuals that lack a sense of urgency and little by little I filter them out. My nature is to make sure everything is running in place. Rick is the same way. You make a request and he makes sure he gets to it as quick as possible. He always delivers on time or before he established.

Awesome Presentation Skills

One of the things that can turn me off when I visit a restaurant is poor presentation of my food. Even if the food has a decent taste, presenting food in a wrong way might even make your brain think it does not taste right even before you touch the food. The same goes with presenting your work to your clients. Rick being an artist by nature has polished presentation skills which complement his work. If you want to see a demo of his work ,contact us for a logo or any art design and you will understand what I am trying to say.

Great Sense of Humor

Rick’s humor is very similar to mine which makes it a plus. I like playing pranks and joking around with those who I trust. Since I met Rick I have seen how he has a great sense of keeping it fun and I really enjoy working along him.

What things do you look for in a Business Partner?

To say or not to say by @ricklipsett

June 13, 2011 by Raul Colon

Guest post from extraordinary creator of art, writer, and great human being my friend @ricklipsett. This is post 7 on the Online Privacy Please! series I am publishing to share thoughts on issues of online privacy.

Tonight I’m gonna teach you not to mess with me. I’d love to see your face when you go lookin’ for your car and it’s not there. Tough luck, buddy!

I may be exaggerating a bit, but we’ve seen this type of post before, haven’t we? Maybe not. Maybe all you’ve read are along the lines of domestic disputes or “chillería” (spanish for unfaithfulness). Or maybe I need to change my friends on Facebook.

The other day, Raúl wrote a piece on Internet privacy. And it got me thinking about all the things I’ve seen people “talk” about on the Social Network. I understand that some times we need a friend to talk to and get rid of things we’ve been carrying around on our shoulders. Hell, even I have posted some tantrums from time to time. And not only on my status updates, but on blog posts. The difference is I always knew consequences may follow. And some have come knocking later.

We all make stupid decisions from time to time. And posting our thoughts when we are angry is one of those decisions. Spewing bile words or thoughts can and will harm someone. It may be the person that your anger is pointed towards, or it could make a U turn and bite you in the buttocks.

Some things are better left unwritten. Some things are better to say upfront, and wait for the broken nose. Some truths are best when the one that needs it has it in their hands. Some beliefs are better to keep away from those who do not agree.

It’s not about being untruthful to yourself. Instead is about knowing when to keep quiet and reserve things for yourself or simply to wait for the right opportunity to say things in person.

We’ve come to use social media so much, that we forget, we know not exactly how to approach it sometimes. The rules of engagement are different here. It’s not like when someone doesn’t want to have contact with you and you know because of the body language. In this domain, you know nothing of the person who’s reading you. You don’t even know where or what I’m doing while I write this. I could be at Church pretending to listen to mass right now, maybe I’m driving and zig zagging my way along, or in the bathroom, wrestling it out with my intestines! You, the reader, could be an angry boyfriend, a pissed off employer or an FBI agent. I haven’t the faintest. So why do we post without boundaries? Beats me.

Next time you feel like screaming, by all means, DO IT! but in your car with the windows up. Don’t write about it on Facebook with names and addresses. Frankly, no one cares, and no one needs to know.

You know what? now that I’m done, this feels like a tantrum from my part also. Guess I better prepare myself for the backlash.

About the Author

Rick Lipsett – http://www.ricklipsett.com is an Illustrator/Graphic Designer/Digital Artist. Co-Founder of UNDOdigital; Puertorican Digital Artists Community. Fan of blogs, and social networks. You may find him on Twitter as: @ricklipsett.

photo credit by Bottled_Void