20 from 20: It took a village

This is the last episode in my "20 from 20" highlights series.

It took a lot of work to review, edit, splice, comment on 3,000+ minutes of video I uploaded in the last few months.

But in doing so, I realized I was excerpting less than 10% of videos, images, notes I accumulated across the 5 series I ran

• 75+ executives shared their heroics and industry perspectives in the Acrobatics during the Crisis series
• 60+ vendor executives and analysts presented on new products and surveys in the Analyst Cam series
• 50+ folks proudly described their hobbies, charities, personal pursuits in the Technology and my Passion series
• 20+ analysts and influencers commented on industry trends in the Burning Platform series
• 25+ Florida towns are profiled in the West Coast on the East Coast series

So many people stepped up to share stories in the midst of so much doom, gloom, fear and anger that defined 2020.  Some of them participated across several of the series. Others came back and updated earlier comments. I felt like I was in an oasis of positive people. I have heard from so many readers and viewers they went wow after many of the episodes.

Some day, someone will discover these archives in a time capsule and say "Wonder why mainstream media never talked about these amazing and positive people in 2020?"

What's up for 2021?  In some ways, I hope we don't have to lurch from one crisis to another like we did in 2020 and deliver heroics for each. I hope I hear more about innovation and drive in calmer times in the Acrobatics series. I hope many more vendors present in the Analyst Cam series. I hope to invite many more tech industry observers in the Burning Platform series. Similarly, I hope people write about ice fishing, jigsaw puzzles and so many other activities which surprisingly no one has over a decade of the Passion series. 

So, thank you again to every one of the 2020 contributors.  Somebody once told me I can make a brown paper bag sound interesting. Not sure he meant it as a compliment - but I strive to improve the message of anyone who shares with me. I will take it in any format. Some shared from their mancaves. Others shared their passion in hand written notes. Good enough for me. Please keep sharing - especially positive, inspirational stuff.

In the meantime, here are the links to the 20 highlights if you want to revisit.

1. The Passion Play 
2. Resilience during the crisis 
3. The year HR finally turned strategic? 
4. Business Heroics 
5. Not your Dad's verticals 
6. Diversity in Tech 
7. Inspirational quotes 
8. Digital Acceleration  
9. Humor in tech 
10. A small, proud accomplishment 
11. The 20 minute digital pitch 
12. The World is still round 
13. Mega-trends affecting IT 
14. More for "Vinnie Vertical" 
15. Never bet against America 
16. West Coast on the East Coast 
17. My Rock  
18. Small (biz) is beautiful 
19. No industry untouched 
20. It took a village