John Burkholder

This weekend Avery and I went to WizardWorld Comic Con in Louisville. This was the birthday party she had to give up in order to have this experience. She met the 11th Doctor Who and his companion Amy Pond. I met them as well, and may have been just as excited.  I have to say, WizardWorld is able to do that one thing that most places are completely missing. Provide a personal experience. Yes, you pay for it. But it is first come, first serve and honestly, I am good. We were pushed through with the hundreds of others, but we met them. Now this isn't my first time meeting people at WizardWorld, previously Avery and I met Stan Lee and had the opportunity to sit there and ask questions to him in a small intimate group of about 40 people for 45 minutes. This was Avery's present last year... And mine as well.  But it isn't just WizardWorld that gets all of the credit this year. The Michael J Fox foundation brought in my personal dream opportunity.  Yep! That is me and Avery getti

NaNext is a company specializing in nanotechnology. Korea is currently leading in the nanogenerator space and is becoming a serious consideration for replacement of lithium or mercury based batteries.  NaNext will take the nanogenerator science and expand it from the laboratory into the business solutions to include patents and products. Research would specifically address whether a combination of radio frequency and nanogeneration can be made to work together to create a wireless battery of sorts. First blush would use short wave crystal radio tied to nanogenerators as short wave is capable of covering long distances without a huge power demand.  For more information about NaNext, leave a comment below with your email address. 

Sleepers Anonymous is a social site dedicated to the activity you spend 8 hours per day doing... Or trying to do... Sleep. Sleeper profiles are made, surveys are given, social communities about sleep or the lack of sleep, sleep disorders, and fun sleep facts. Sleep logs can be set up to track how you sleep and determine which types of activity can cause restless sleep.  Revenue is generated from the sleep data and from advertisements and referrals for everything from beds, to the sexiest footy pajamas, to sleep machines.  Sleepers Anonymous even delves into naps. The best places to nap, how to nap at work, etc.  For more information about Sleepers Anonymous, leave an email address below in the comment box. 

Having an event can be daunting. There is the venue, the funding raising laws, the announcements, the equipment rentals, the catering, the janitorial staff, the update system, the Facebook page, the budgets vs actuals, the thank you notes, the entertainment, the hotels, the speakers dinners, the carnival equipment... You get the idea.  Chief Events is a web site that had all of the prepackage templates, the database of resources and locations, and forms to handle the entire event. Whether it is an online only fundraiser, or a technology conference cruise, the resources and best practices make it easy for you. Best of all, it is free for the planner. We provide the tools and templates for free. The add-on providers provide the income through referral fees.  For more information about Chief Events, comment below with your email address. 

Write by Me is a writers community designed to help spawn new ideas and plotlines from a single set of characters, origins, and points of interest. The story lines will help authors hone skills using basic information and work off of each other's ideas and abilities.  Authors would vote on which stories have the better delivery, and publishers would provide options for publishing (competing for publishing rights). Additionally, one set of characters could be expanded into different genres ranging from mystery, to horror, to comedy. Examples of this could be a starting point such as: The panic is setting in. Andrew Weldon is in deep trouble without his pills. The college pharmacy is closed and at $170 per refill off campus, there wasn’t a chance he was going to be able to afford even one. He had to make it through 3 more hours. The doctors call it Dissociative Identity Disorder, although it was also diagnosed as Schizophrenia, Depersonalization, and Derealization. Even though

Paved World is a career path site tied into Linked In. It provides valuable career path and testing to help people determine what they need to do to most effectively advance in their field. This path will include resources to learn more to advance down the path, suggestions on how often changes need to take place instead of remaining stagnant, and places to start a new career.  Using extensive research databases, salary tables, psychological evaluation tools and data.gov labor statistics, Paved World will learn about the users preferences, work style and geographical information and provide complete career guidance from school entry and grants available, to advancement opportunities and salary expectations. It fills the gaps between graduating from college and retirement.  Funding will come from school references specific for the career choice to job board references.  On the other side of the aisle, the human resources groups can weigh in on the database information as well as use it

Terra Vacations is an online travel service that take scheduling travel further. Terra Vacations will provide customers the ability to purchase all-inclusive travel packages.  Normal travel services provide the flight, hotel, rental car, cruises and maybe some add-on options, but often, it is a logistical challenge and you may not know where you are going nearly as well as someone there. What if you just want to be driven (limo or cab) instead of renting a car? What about the restaurant choices? What about the theater, or festival, sporting event, or concert tickets?  What about museum passes or theme parks? What is there to do with the kids? What are the best places for a 40something couple to go for a childless night out? How much does all of this end up costing? Can I prepay or set up a payment plan ahead if time? With Terra Vacations, the answer is yes. Whether you want a weekend in Chicago, a Route 66 experience, or a Big Apple week with the kids, Terra Vacations would have some p

For the past years I have noticed that my motivation to build or create things (companies, inventions, etc.) has changed from actually doing it myself to leading people and have them do it. Is it laziness or is it just that I have aged past the point of creator to innovative leader? The challenge with changing into that new type if role is that I want it done a specific way. I also will have to pay someone to make it the way I want it even if I have to pay them to fix it after I paid them to do it wrong the first time.  In my heart, this seems counterproductive and wasteful. But does a leader move past that in hopes that whatever is brought forth is even better than what was planned? Are the nuggets of surprises worth the risks of having to rework it? In the past, I have found it is easier and faster for me to do it myself instead of waiting for someone else to do it, and I have to go back as fix it.  I guess it all comes down to "what is your time worth?"  If you have 30 ite