Speaking Again at Gwinnett Tech on 99 Motivators for College Success

Looking forward to appearing again at the GT Alpharetta campus in January 2019.  Happy holidays and new year - see you there soon!
Perry

Writing Article: Protecting Ownership Interests and Intellectual Property Rights on a Shoestring Budget

Stay Tuned.  I'm putting the finishing touches on this article, and submitting to law journals:

Abstract

This article highlights a team project for Entrepreneurship students, focusing on the most common mistakes that people make in the formation of a business, without legal counsel.  In the assignment, four hypothetical business partners are full-time students, with only $500 for initial legal costs.  Students are instructed to allocate these funds; assess personal and company risk levels; draft a Shareholder agreement entailing different roles and capital contributions; and write a Work for Hire agreement with a clause conferring intellectual property ownership. 

Bob Beamon's Olympics Long Jump Record, October 18, 1968

This article is from the archives. I wrote it for the 25th Anniversary program, honoring Bob Beamon for the Greatest Track & Field Feat in Olympic History (Long Jump in Mexico City, 1968)

WIND BENEATH MY WINGS
by Bob Beamon and Perry Binder

Sometimes when I get home after a particularly hectic day, I'll put on some jazz and take out my African drums to strike up a beat. As I close my eyes, my body succumbs to the rhythmic vibrations of pounding drums. With the stress of the day draining off, I kick back and try to reflect on where I've been and where I'm going. Sometimes my mind wanders back to Mexico City and 1968; but mostly, I think about today and tomorrow, one day at a time.

I work up a good beat and follow the flow. This morning, I went to an elementary school to talk with a few hundred children about precious opportunities. The kids cheered when I showed a replay of the jump. That got their attention. But then one kid laughed when I confided that I couldn't read a book at his age. He didn't mean anything by it, but it's hard to know sometimes who listens closely to the lessons of the past - who we can reach and who remains lost in America's school corridors and neighborhood back alleys.

As a kid growing up in Jamaica, Queens, I could barely find a positive role model in the neighborhood. The money and fancy clothes flashed around by local drug dealers and pimps were tempting and offered a quick way out. The message of sacrifice offered by parents, guardians and teachers who toil anonymously in the trenches was brushed aside to satisfy the appetite of the moment. When a young man today wonders if he'll live to see his twenty-fifth birthday and our babies are having babies, it's easy to identify such an overwhelming sense of resignation on our nation's street corners.

The statistics are mind blowing. Nationwide, an estimated 270,000 firearms are brought to our kids' schools every day. While a recent United Way survey identified that non-profit groups reach out to an estimated 15,000 "at-risk" youth in Dade County, Florida, another 120,000 needy kids aren't getting proper attention. Let's get one thing straight - in some way, all of our youth are at risk. Before we can isolate what makes children tick, their parents must first discover what makes themselves function effectively. Before parents can instill a sense of pride and dignity in a child, before we can talk about molding model citizens, mothers and fathers must feel good about who they are. A stable home life is the first priority our country must address before we can consider the active role that athletes can play in developing healthy minds and bodies.

Obviously, each kid is not going to cross the finish line first, but as Baron Pierre de Courbertin of France (the inspiration behind holding the modern Olympic Games) stated: "The important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part; the important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle."

Ultimately, the lesson for our youth to gather is that it is not imperative to take home the gold medal. Champions are not made on the field or track; champions are made according to your accomplishments and abilities in every day life situations. The same tools that I used to succeed athletically can be applied to succeeding personally. Just as practice in long jumping made me successful, practice in whatever your profession or hobby may be will make you equally as successful. A sound work ethic will offer a framework for a youth's self-worth and the impetus to stand up and scream: "I am a Champion!"

One key to my athletic accomplishments, however, is that someone was eventually there to give me an opportunity. Whether it was Larry Ellis, my high school track and field coach, or Ralph Boston, Mr. Long Jump, a helping hand guided me to focus out distractions and concentrate on honing my skills.

While an Olympic jump gave me notoriety and stature, that success does not define who I am. But sports did give me a backdrop of discipline to apply each day. This stable force helps me to face the realities of keeping up with today's rigors. Our children must be taught such lessons from sports - how to set realistic goals, stick to them, work through them and redefine them to stretch their talents to new heights.

Because as the image of an eternal Olympic torch burns an indelible message of hope and respect in our hearts and minds, the flame is beginning to flicker. The fire in our neighborhood streets is simply suffocating the spirit and dreams of every kid who is taken for granted and not given an opportunity to flourish.

The great news is that high profile athletes are anxious to offer their time to find solutions. From Nate Archibald in Harlem to James Worthy in Compton and everyone in between the two coasts, athletes are coming to the rescue of young people in vast numbers. The simple point is that we have the ability to attract a kid's attention. Let's use our gifts constructively.

The boys and girls growing up in America are the wind beneath my wings. They are my motivation for rising each morning with an inspired outlook. So tonight, my eyes are open as I allow the drum beat to guide my thoughts about yesterday and today. About Mexico City. About some anonymous kids marking time by hanging out on the corner. About tomorrow's journey.

My beat is strong and fluid now, yet it seeks interpretation and clarity. It reaches out for your understanding and support.

The beat goes on. It simply has to.

1994 Bio: Perry Zane Binder is a sports radio talk show host on WSBH in Miami Beach (Love of the Game).

c 1994-2018 Perry Binder

Speaking on Social Media Use for Bermuda Delegate Association on October 11

Looking forward!

Warren Buffett said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” People worldwide affirm that statement daily with ill-advised social media posts in their professional and personal lives.  
This article describes how social media promotes “instantaneous dissemination of thought, oftentimes without filter or reflection,” in “a participatory forum of real time information clutter.” My interactive projects are designed for students to recognize good from bad digital behavior and become 24/7 brand ambassadors for wherever they work, as well as for themselves.

Click to continue reading

The Case for Humor in the College Classroom

From the Archives - I published this article in The Huffington Post:

As college professors nationwide prepare for a new academic year, my message for them is simple: Lighten up! Your students just might engage and learn.  
I never dreamed of being a college professor. Does anybody? When my third grade teacher asked us about our dream job, Molly said an astronaut; Evan, an actor. Perry: Obtain a terminal degree and lecture on legal morasses. 
Continue reading The Case for Humor in the College Classroom

Speaking with High School Students from Across the Nation

Fun time this week working with NEXUS Summer Program students.  Everyone received a copy of 99 Motivators for College Success.  

NEXUS provides teens with on-campus academic and career development alongside immersive experiences in self-discovery including socio-emotional coping strategies, on leading college campuses throughout America.  

Lessons Learned from Sports

It was great meeting and speaking with the Atlanta After-School All-Stars this week!  In the early 1990's, I worked with the Miami ASAS Chapter, then known as the Inner City Games, and led by Olympian Bob Beamon.

99 Motivators - Student Summer Programs

Taking on 7'4" Mark Eaton, NBA Defensive Player of the Year

Looking forward to speaking with rising 9th graders in June, and rising 12th graders and college freshmen in July and August.

Our Greatest Barriers to Success:

   - Lack of curiosity

   - Fear of change

   - Fear of failure (see photo!)

   
You need a game plan, but no matter what you do in life, you always will have your education.  

 99 Motivators for College Success is dedicated to any person who walks into a college classroom, and dares to dream about a better today and tomorrow.

Rod Serling's Inspiring Graduation Speech - 50 Years Ago

Have you ever watched Twilight Zone re-runs on TV? Serling, who wrote 92 of the 156 scripts, had a flair for the written word. Part of his childhood was spent in Binghamton, N.Y., where I attended college.  The influence of upstate New York is evident in a handful of his scripts.  Twenty five years after his own high school graduation, he returned to his alma mater to deliver one of the most inspiring and timeless speeches you'll ever read.

Excerpt from Binghamton High School Commencement Speech, 1968:
... always do the things that you believe. Don't become monuments—sway with the wind. Change opinions, if the change is natural and believed. But believe in something and fight for those beliefs. Honor them by your commitment. Further them by your effort.
And what a wondrous and what an incredibly grand world you might build for your children.  Now this millennium may not be in sight, let alone in reach. The route to it may be pretty damned close to impassible.  It may be as distant and as complicated to reach as the moon or another solar system.  BUT IT IS THERE! It's there for the taking, the asking and the fighting. And the rhetorical question—are you tough enough—I think is already answered by simply the look of you and the feeling that's in the room.  Indeed, you're tough enough. And you're also human enough and sensitive enough and caring enough.

Full text: http://www.rodserling.com/01281968.htm

Motivational Graduation Speech for High School and College

Your Graduation Inspires Me

When I participate in graduation ceremonies, I often imagine delivering my own speech to the graduates, as if I were the commencement speaker:

Good morning chancellor, president, deans, faculty members, staff, students, friends, and family members.  And to the graduates:
Every one of you is special.Every one of you is a productive member of society.Every one of you is what inspires ME - because…Every one of you has a story to tell.I just wish I had the time to hear every one of them, and to be there as your career paths unfold.
You have already accomplished a huge milestone on that journey.  The biggest step though was just showing up.  That’s it.  The secret most people don’t get until it’s too late.  Just showing up as young freshmen was a threshold event.  Trying something which may be hard for the first time.  Experiencing new things, even if it’s unknown whether the objective is attainable.
To me, the greatest barriers to success, however you define that, are a fear of the unknown, a fear of change, and a fear of failure.  But you need a game plan, and hopefully you can lean a little on what you learned in school to figure out that route.  No matter what you do in life, you always will have your education.
I hope you made some lifelong friends here.  Frankly, I learned more about life from my peers than from my professors.  And I hope you got more than knowledge from your profs because you can get that from a book.  I’m hoping you gained insight on whatever subject, and then stamped your own original perspective on how to resolve issues and solve problems.
Many times the things you do won’t work.  And you will fail at some things you try.  That’s just a fact of life.  Abraham Lincoln once said:  “My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” 
And you will make mistakes.  A lot of them!  Both in your careers and your lives.  That’s just another fact of life.  But that’s okay.  The trick is figuring out how to deal with setbacks.  Your family and friends will always be there for you.  And your education will continually serve as a foundation to get you back on track.

Franklin D. Roosevelt said: “We are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of our own minds.”  Graduates, each of you must unlock your mind and blaze a path built on reason and purpose.  Life is too short to spend it bouncing around like a random and aimless ball in a game of Pong.®  And whether you are 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, or 80 years young, it is never too late to test the boundaries of your dreams. 

Finally, I want all of you gathered in front of me to please lose the title of “former” student, because you will be my students for many years to come.  And I expect in return that I can become your student, as I learn about your professional successes, trials, and tribulations.
Every one of you is special.Every one of you is a productive member of society.Every one of you is what inspires me – because...Every one of you has a story to tell.
What will your next journey be?

Excerpt from 99 Motivators for College Success