I’m Nobody Special, But I’m Speaking Anyway

Posted by psabilla

January 22, 2008

Yes, my face is on the front cover of the brochure (PDF Download). But, little does the audience know that that picture (I’m the second, from the left, but better viewed in the PDF brochure) was taken while I was sitting on a fake sheep during a family trip to the animal farm at Thanksgiving Point in Utah. I cropped just my face for submission to the event organizers, but the "real" picture is of me, at the insistence of my kids, sitting on a fake sheep.

I’m speaking at an event, but I’m not boasting

In the grand scheme of things or in the local minutia of our lives, I’m pretty much nobody. Gratefully, though, I am somebody in the eyes of my children and my wife. That is what matters to me. And, when my head gets big, worldly and prideful, for some unfounded reason or other, I’m reminded by my 1-year old and 9-week old, as I change their dirty diapers, of what is really and truly important in life: it’s certainly not notoriety or money, but that I matter to my children and wife, that I’ve nurtured and build relationships with people, and that I am adding value to the world in my own little way.

If you are still reading this post, unannoyed and with dry eyes, let me make an announcement and an invitation:

You are cordially invited to a pretty cool Lean Six Sigma Summit (PDF Brochure Download) to be held on April 28 – May 2, 2008. I’ll be speaking at the event, along with other, much-more distinguished folks, whose names are below:

Richard P. Miller
President and CEO
VIRTUA HEALTH

Lee Cockerell
Former Executive Vice
President of Operations
THE WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT

Russell W. Ford
President and CEO
PRESTOLITE ELECTRIC INCORPORATED

Craig Long
Vice President, Quality and Six Sigma
MILLIKEN AND COMPANY

Roger Myers
Vice President Process Improvement (GIS)
COMPUTER SCIENCES CORPORATION

Nancy Pratt
Senior Vice President, Clinical Effectiveness
SHARP HEALTHCARE

Michael G. Winston
Managing Director and Chief Leadership Officer
COUNTRYWIDE FINANCIAL

Ellen Domb
Founding Editor
THE TRIZ JOURNAL

Debra Levantrosser
Executive Director, Lean/Supply Chain
JOHNSON & JOHNSON

Pete Abilla
Head of Process Improvement for Customer Service, North America
EBAY

Betsi Harris Ehrlich
Director of Six Sigma and Master Black Belt
TYCO INTERNATIONAL

Adam Hjerpe
Senior Director of Quality, Programme Management
UNITED HEALTH GROUP

Gregory Robertson
Director of Six Sigma
BLACK & VEATCH CORPORATION

Martina Kuhlmeyer
Executive Vice President of Six Sigma
TEXTRON FINANCIAL

Jeff Johnson
Master Black Belt
TEXTRON FINANCIAL

Anthony Orzechowski
Director of R&D Quality Engineering
ABBOTT DIAGNOSTICS

Bruce Bryant
Senior Management Analyst and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt
DEFENCE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

Brian Geschwindt
Managing Master Black Belt
QUEST DIAGNOSTICS

Nathan Guerdet
Operations Manager
WELLS FARGO FINANCIAL

Praveen Gupta
Six Sigma Author & President
ACCELPER CONSULTING

Alex Bellabarba
Head of Process Improvement for Customer Service, Europe
EBAY

James Warner, P.E
Director Industrial Division
MINNESOTA POLLUTION CONTROL AGENCY

Tony Coomer
Vice President of Continuous Improvement
LEAR CORPORATION

Dr Stephen Hoover
Vice President Xerox Research Center
XEROX CORPORATION

Patricia Atkins
Lean Six Sigma Director
SHARP HEALTHCARE

Teresa Hay McMahon
Performance Results Director
STATE OF IOWA DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT

Paul Pfeiffenberger
Master Black Belt and Global Continuous
Improvement Manager
AIR PRODUCTS & CHEMICALS

Steven Lesser
Vice President, Supply Chain North America
ORICA

Mike Shuck
Manufacturing Specialist
CHICAGO MANUFACTURING CENTER

Brent Tadsen
Master Black Belt – Lean
GE RAILCAR

Ronnie Pate
Director of Six Sigma Initiatives, Global Supply Chain
CINTAS CORPORATION

Jerry Bussell
Vice President of Global Operations
MEDTRONIC ENT/NT

Dr Michael O’Connor
Director of Global Lean Deployment and Master Black Belt
UNISYS

Richard Lam
Lean Six Sigma Corporate Deployment Leader
BMO FINANCIAL GROUP

James Wasiloff
Master Black Belt and Lead Deployment Advisor, TACOM Life
Cycle Management Command US ARMY

Srisu Subrahmanyam
Vice President, Continuous Improvement
UNITED AIRLINES

Prof. Deborah J. Nightingale
Director
LEAN ADVANCEMENT
INITIATIVE, LAI

Please come. It should be a fun event. There will also be a behind-the-scenes tour of United Airlines and a peek into their Lean Deployment. I’m really looking forward to that.