I always heard about how life (if you are indeed lucky) will offer up a few “ brass rings ” and if you are smart enough and in the right place at the right time, the brass ring will be yours.

For years we all sold at the brand level – you wanted a program done – the money was in the brands. Then there was a seismic shift – procurement came into play (actually, that worked pretty well for us, anyway) and and programs were done on a franchise or corporate level (ok, that worked out for us also).

I’ve been a leader for a long time and I’ve been a manager for a long time. I think I am a strong leader; I think I am an OK manager – there is always room for improvement in all arenas, of course

There were at least 100 people in Starbucks at 53rd and Broadway at 1:45 p.m. yesterday, but one guy stood out

One of my strengths that plays well as leader of One Eleven is my willingness to try something.

I talk to clients, potential clients and partners a LOT. On the phone, in person, in pitches, speeches and via social media and interviews. In all this talk I spout a lot of statistics and facts (and tell a few good stories) – trying to spread the word about health care professionals and mobile.

One Eleven’s Founder & CEO, Janet Carlson, was interviewed for an article in PharmaVoice (September, 2009) on the role Twitter should play in pharma marketing. See Janet’s comments: My take

I have been shopping online for a new car and I am getting a lesson in customer service – which REALLY surprised me. I chose my model with all the trimmings and emailed my very specific needs to both Honda and Toyota. I got back a reply via email immediately, acknowledging my request and received a quote with a notification of 1 car of my type in stock within half an hour and I had the guy’s email and direct dial.

Saw this tweet this morning and it really hit me: “Zen thought of the day- You know deep down what you have to do. Now SHUT UP and go do it. NOW.” ( Radu ) This was actually EXACTLY the thought I was having this morning – clients have started spending again, and I expect the 3rd and 4th quarters to be interesting.

Good grief – got another one of those “sponsorship for speaking gig” calls again.  I’m always so optimistic when they call – maybe this one will just want a really good speaker…yeah right.  So I protested and made my point (on bored ears) – to which the person responded that if I wanted to sponsor a notebook (really, a notebook??) then I could stand up and pimp away.  I politely thanked her for the stunning opportunity, but declined. Here is the follow up email I got: Janet, I understand your frustrations with the pay to play type mentality. As I mentioned XXX’s primary objective is to create the most comprehensive, topic relevant agenda, addressing the bio/pharmaceutical industry’s top concerns/needs.  As such, our first goal is to identify the most qualified thought leaders to participate as part of our elite faculty within the bio/pharmaceutical industry, Having said that, when all is equal, we do look to afford our sponsoring organizations the opportunity to participate on the agenda, especially, when we have significant interest from the sponsor community – as is the case with this event. Unfortunately, we are in a position where we are approached but many great vendor, consultant, and law firm speakers who want a place on our agenda .