Sorry about that Tom! It stands for "Information Technology" and is sort of a catch-all for anything computer related.
From what I understand Mark E. is a very talented php programmer.
P.S. I'll save you the trouble - "php" is a programming language where weirdly enough the first p stands for "php" and the rest stands for Hypertext Preprocessor). Anyway, apparently he's very good at it!
Thank you, Mark. Some times I ask myself, "Would I be any better off if I had today's computer tools when I was starting in my business career in 1953 when I finished business college?"
You know what? I doubt it. Why? Because we/I never charged enough for our services and intellect back in those days and probably still don't.
For instance:
In 1957, we were featured in the Florist Review as the "1st Self Serve Bedding Plant Retailer in the flower industry".
We "gave" to one of the largest seed companies in existance today the idea of a market container that a grower would grow 12 plants in so they could be grown & retailed without digging them out of a flat. It was called the "Market Pak".
I tried the idea of a liquid lawn service in the 1960s until my brother [the grower in the family] told me that a liquid food was not good for the grass.
I was the largest dealer in the US for Scotts 4-Step Annual Lawn Program in the early 1980s. Don't even sell it today.
I was the Chairman of the first Dealer Advisory Board to O.M. Scotts, chosen out of 14,000 dealers in the US.
I led the first People to People Delegation of fU.S. Forists to Japan, China, Hong Kong, and the Phillipines in 1981. We found a flower shop in China when SAF, FTD, Ohio State U, Mich St Colleg said there were no flower shops in China. Boy, was that a thrill.
I served as a Trustee of People To People International and participated at Trustee meetings with US Congressmen, Ambassadors, British, European and India Parliment Members and a lot of famous people from all over the world.
Those among other things, and I did not create any wealth from them. It is not my point to list my accomplishments.
I just hope that when people "get some practical smarts" that they go on to higher levels and get paid for it. You will have to ask for, it does not come on its own.
But you know what? At age 75 [next week] I love what I am doing. Now if someone can give me a pill so I do not wake up at 4:00 am and then try to figure out how to improve cash flow, how to improve my marketing, etc. I would appreciate it. My answer to that dilema is "get up and do it."
And the moral of the story is:
"Give your self credit for the good things you do and don't give your knowledge away," if that is possible.
Tom Carlson
