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Lowell Stories: Stalled On The Tracks (& more)
Dad never had a mishap when flying (well, not one that he couldn’t handle). But when it came to cars, he had some close calls. Here’s three of his car tales.
Lowell Stories: Would It Still Have Happened?
This is one of Dad’s “I’m lucky to be here” stories that he wrote down for us back in 1999. I swear (so did he) that man had a guardian angel watching over him.
Sometimes the backstory is the better story.
Often we’re so focused on the story that we miss appreciating why the story itself became a story. Every story has a backstory; sometimes it’s the better story.
“You want me to wear a hard hat? Really??”
Pictures can make your proof argument more impressive, but it’s hard to beat a live, in-person demo. And if you can’t do a live demo – try video. Take a look.
Legal
The stuff you kinda have to have: Applicable Scope, Copyright, Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, & Contact info.
If you don’t know where you are going …
“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” … Baseball great and folk philosopher Yogi Berra says to reach a goal you need a plan.
Steve Jobs – You have to trust in something.
Steve Jobs once said you have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. … it has made all the difference in my life.
It’s spectacular: Red Shirt Table Overlook.
On our way to Wounded Knee in the Badlands SD, we came to the crest of a hill. We were awestruck. The view was like nothing I had ever seen before.
Convinsys
Convincing Systems, LLC (DBA Convinsys) has been my business since 2006. I help innovators explain & sell technology by offering courses and consulting.
Home
I ask questions, especially why. I’m an engineer who loves ideas, tools, & creative problem solving. This site is about me – both personal & professional.
Certificates & Training
Recently I was asked to supply a list of professional/training certifications. When I looked back in my file drawers I was surprised to more than I remembered.
When we do, we discover.
Many times I see people who self-profess to be experts. They talk a good story, but can they prove what they say is true? How do they know what they don’t know?
Make what you need. Solve the challenges.
“Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.” It’s also learning to solve a boat-load of unplanned problems during the process.
Wake Tech – Web Technologies
Instructor for HTML5 & CSS3, JavaScript, PHP & MySQL, WordPress, and Web Design classes (online, seated, and hybrid) at Wake Tech Community College.
“Well, hello good son. Where did the time go?”
Dad was my best friend. When we discussed topics, we’d leave each other with something to ponder. Two days before he passed away, he left me with a big one.
dougfoster.me – Website
WordPress website for sharing personal stories about life & work, photos, and work projects. Built with WordPress, Beaver Builder, custom code, & plugins.
Line Defender – Product Demo Video
Two minute video demonstrates how Line Defender™ easily prevents monofilament fishing line from snarling the propellor & motor shaft of electric rolling motors.
Presentations & Webinars
Technical & non-technical public speaking opportunities with both small and large audiences. Events include WordCamp, indieConf, interOp, Macworld, and Cisco.
LIPM – FOCUS Integrated Marketing Software
Print/digital marketing campaign platform. Drip ECRM cloud, WordPress, custom JS/PHP, private URLs & QR codes, Calendly, Gyft, & Drip integrated via REST.
LIPM – Website & Marketing
Marketing support for short-run print shop. Rebuilt WordPress website, web analytics, lots of pages & posts, write/edit copy, photography, videos, SEO, …
Touchstone 3D – Website
WordPress website promoting product innovation & prototyping services. FooGallery plugin with Beaver Builder theme for easy to maintain, visual page structure.
ChargeGuardZ – Sales Development Plan
Sales development plan for iPhone cable protector from startup Zaytoun Industries. Story-based methodology, markets, differentiation, branding, pricing, …
LIPM – Job Status Tracking
WordPress app to track limited-run post card mailings. Gravity Forms & View allow clients/staff access to protected pages; emails sent when jobs are updated.
AFS Photography – Website
WordPress website promoting photography services; extensive blog with backstories and favorite photos. Content copy protection, Slider Revolution plugin, …
Touchstone 3D – Order Management System
Select a new tool for rebuilding company’s Order Management System. OMS was difficult to maintain and written in Java by an intern no longer with the company.
LIPM – HP Wall Art Video
Two minute video showing the creation and installation of an in-house designed, ceiling to floor, HP Wall Art display. iPhone/DSLR cameras, hundreds of stills.
LIPM – WUNC Success Story
Success story – how Laser Image Printing & Marketing implemented a direct mail campaign to help solve WUNC public radio’s challenge with sustaining supporters.
Fuentek – NASA Technical Marketing
Intellectual Property (IP) marketing & licensing for NASA. Reviewed patents for marketability, assessed technology for licensing, interviewed experts, …
Lowell Foster – Obituary
Lowell Elliott Foster’s obituary as it appeared in the Raleigh N&O on June 22, 2015. Lowell was born on July 5th, 1922 and passed away on June 17, 2015.
Lowell Foster – A Pretty Good Person
It’s been said we’re the sum of our experiences. That may be true, but I think a lot of what we are – who we are – comes from our parents.
About
I ask questions, especially why. I’m an engineer who loves ideas, tools, & creative problem solving. This page is about me – both personal & professional.
Punkin’ Chunkin’ – A Good Laugh
Punkin’ chunkin’ is an eclectic sport. Even though “chunkers” throw things year round, they only toss pumpkins before Thanksgiving. This was our first chunker.
Touchstone 3D – Websites
Multiple websites promoting the company’s product innovation & prototyping services, Touchstone3D continues to contract with Convinsys for web based projects.
PinpointRG – NCHFA success story
Story describing how Pinpoint Resource Group helped the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency (NCHFA) implement a VMWare based business continuity strategy.
“You’ve got 10 minutes. Change my mind.”
Walk into Bank of America and you’ll find LOTS of Cisco IP phones. Want to know how they got there? This is my best sales story. (Hint – it has a happy ending.)
“Who am I? It’s not an easy question.”
Discovering who you are can be really tough. For me it happened when I was unemployed, had a wife and two children to support, and had to (re)write my resume.
Building a Geodesic Dome Home in Iowa
After college, I told a friend “We’re going to build a dome home.” He said, “If it was a regular house, it’d be like like an architect living in a mobile home.”
The Dynamic R. Buckminster Fuller on WUNC
R. (Richard) Buckminister Fuller was a man of many talents. I had a chance to hear him when he came to ISU back in 1975, but passed. I SO wish I had gone.
Machinist to ME – An Unplanned Life Change
I had just started at Iowa State. Reb’s mom and I were watching Saydel play their first football game of the season. “You didn’t know? Jeff committed suicide.”
Chemistry Class – “Sign zee papers old man!”
Close to graduation I decided to pull a prank on a favorite teacher – “MadMan” Larry Dean. MadMan was our chemistry teacher & his nickname was well deserved.
5 Ideas – National Storytelling Festival
My dad told me once “If you learn one thing, then it was worthwhile.” Sometimes you learn more, like at the National Storytelling Festival last weekend.
Fit to View – Sales Development Plan
Sales development plan for patented mortician’s product from startup Fit to View. Story-based methodology covers value, markets, differentiation, branding, pricing, competitors, and distribution strategies; go-to-market section defines priorities and activities.
VoIP Hi Def Conferencing. Amazing & Free!
I’ve been working with data/voice/video networking (especially VoIP) for most of my career. But the other day I lived through an abysmal audio conference call.
Five Principles of Selling
As a senior executive (now CEO/Chairman) at Cisco, every quarter Chuck Robbins is responsible for generating hundred-million-dollar revenues from North America.
NASA Langley – Selling the EBF3 Story
Working with NASA scientists and engineers, I learn about technology they develop, then help them find licensing opportunities for the Intellectual Property.
Jimmy Buffett and Social Media
Last night at Walnut Creek I heard Jimmy Buffett’s best concert ever. It got me to thinking about how much social media and Jimmy Buffett have in common.
Cisco – Sales Training
Three one-hour training class for Cisco Product Marketing group: 1) Sales strategy, 2) How Stories Help Sell, 3) Presenting Tips & Best Practices.
Fuentek – NASA EBF3
Fifteen minute video explaining NASA’s Electron Beam Free Form Fabrication (EBF3) technology. Facilitated exploratory licensing between NASA and Stratasys, Inc.
eNC – Netcasting Manual & Classes
Manual with training class on how to create podcasts and webcasts. Delivered to four of the rural North Carolina Business & Technology Development Centers.
Cisco Press – Technical Editing
Technical reviewer for Cisco Networking Simplified books from Cisco Press. Reviewed drafts, consulted with authors and editor to confirm topics were …
ECU – VoIP Business Plan
Business plan for East Carolina University to migrate voice services from a Nortel Class 5 telephone switch to Cisco’s Unified Communications (UC) products.
Cisco – Cisco Network Academy
Internal success story describing how students from Athens Drive High School installed Cisco IP phones, voicemail, and a voice-data network at a mega church.
Cisco – AVVID Demo Room & Kits
Portable kits and training room demonstrated Cisco Unified Communications (UC) solutions. The kits and demo room offered opportunities for hands-on evaluation.
Cisco – Interpath P.O.C.
Proof-of-concept network for delivering next generation high-speed voice, video, and data services. Designed for Internet Service Provider (ISP) Interpath.
CP&L – DCAP
Data Communications Architecture Project (DCAP) provided a vision and plan to overhaul Carolina Power & Light’s data network. A high speed, switched Ethernet, TCP/IP over SONET fiber network replaced the slow & unreliable Token Ring/Banyan Vines network.
Swift Creek Elementary – Technology Plan
School-wide data network – including fiber connections to outside trailers and a T1 connection to the Internet – implemented at Swift Creek Elementary.
Alcatel – Engineering Systems
Plan to rebuild computing environment & IT group supporting Product Engineering for Alcatel Network Systems (ANS). Supported by CIO & CFO, new staff hired, …
Team CP – Products Division, TeamNet
Plans to start a new Products/Systems Integration group at Team Connecting Point, also implement company intranet with Internet connection. IBM authorized …
John Deere – Wide area Integrated Network (WIN)
Global, multi-protocol network connecting major John Deere facilities and the early public Internet. IBM mainframes, mini-computers, CAD/CAM workstations …
MacVet – Veterinary Software
Veterinary clinic management system, included multi-location inventory management, heard health reminders, and full service/procedure invoicing. Written in a 4GL database language, MacVet ran on a local network of IBM PC and/or Apple Macintosh computers.
ISU – Freshman Engineering competition
Multi-media presentation with live demonstrations; won first place in Fall Freshman Engineering competition at Iowa State. Designed a series of vehicle alarms.
Hawkeye Science Fair – What Is a Rolamite?
My exhibit at the 1969 Hawkeye Science Fair explaining rolamite technology. It was hailed as a new, simple machine on par with the lever, fulcrum, and wheel.