From The Late Shift Blog: "The Dog"

It's just a dog. But an interesting one. A really unique specimen.

I found her at some Mennonite puppy mill out in Lancaster County. Paradise, to be precise. She came from Paradise.

I will never, ever forget the expressions on my kids' faces when they discovered her on a Christmas morning nearly 14 years ago. I can still see my oldest, holding her so tightly that I was afraid he'd crush her. But he couldn't, really. He was only 10. And I can hear his then seven-year-old sister, at his feet, "my turn, it's my turn!"

With the boundless energy of any beagle puppy, that dog tore around the house for hours. A brief pause now and then, and she'd be off again. Over and over. But a gentle spirit, truth be told. Under all that energy, almost tender.

She'd howl, too. Oh, could she howl. At the kids. At the rabbits, foxes or deer in the yard. At anything, really. That distinctive beagle howl.

For a lot of reasons, which aren't important, she actually resided with my mother. For the last 14 years, she kept company for a now 81 year old woman who has lived alone since my dad died 20 years ago last week. Along the way, she gave mom a companion, and she watched my kids grow up, always happy to see them, always glad that they were in her life. And that she was in theirs.

When my youngest came along almost 9 years ago, the dog welcomed him as well. Real buddies, those two. I can't tell you how many times I'd find my youngest in some corner of my mother's house with that dog in his arms. Inseparable.

The dog love to eat, too, and in my mother's house, ate well. Too well, perhaps. More than a little heavy, I suppose, I used to chide my mother that the dog looked like a log with legs. Wish I hadn't said that. But they were both happy just the way they were. How could you not be happy with my mother's cooking every day?

The vet would often tell me, "you know, your mother shouldn't feed the dog so much;" but I'd just shoot him a "you've got to be kidding" look and say something like "she's 81, she's going to do what she wants no matter what we tell her." Cooking and eating made them both happy. And when mom was happy, I was happy. You know how that goes. It worked for everyone.

What a one-of-a-kind dog.

-Tom Sheehan is Principal at tomsheehan worldwide. He can be reached at tomsheehan@tomsheehan.com.

I Love Facebook

Although I take a lot of kidding from my kids—and particularly, from my 23-year-old daughter—truth be told: I love Facebook. What a wonderful invention!

My network of friends keeps growing—as do our “Likes” on the tomsheehan worldwide page and my 19 North Records page—and it’s interesting to watch the connections among my real world friends and their friends and friends of friends. Small world, really. Virtually and in reality (and it’s getting hard sometimes to discern the difference between the two).

And I’ve made many new friends via Facebook, too—folks with whom I’ve had the most interesting conversations, mostly about politics and public policy (to each, his own)—but as real, genuine and easy as a conversation with someone I’ve known since college.

Speaking of which, probably the most valuable Facebook experience for me has been reconnecting with guys with whom I played music eons ago (okay, maybe just 35 years ago). Guys like Kevin, Mike and Jack from my days in Asbury Park; Bill from one of my Penn State bands and now a lawyer in Pittsburgh; and Joshua, one of my dearest and oldest musical friends, from Philadelphia. A small thing, perhaps, but very valuable to me.

I’ve also caught up with the accomplishments of friends from way back. Through Facebook, I learned that my college friend Aileen, for example, produced a movie called Monet’s Palette (which starred one Meryl Streep). And my buddy Elliott, long a very accomplished guitar player, producer and bandleader (think Steely Dan and the Saturday Night Live band), recently finished a stint as the musical director of “Hair” in London. I’m very proud of them, and I’m glad I’ve been able to catch up with them.

But it hasn’t been all fun and games. Facebook, like many of the new media models, has become an important tool in our work at tomsheehan worldwide, too. We (collectively) are just now exploring, trying and refining the application of social media for our clients. For some, the applications and advantages are obvious; for others, it’s a bit trickier. Still, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and the other social media mechanisms will no doubt play a key role in our business lives (and our personal lives) in the future.

It’s kind of Orwellian, when you think about it; but in that rather Orwellian future dwells opportunity. Leverage the new media and the new models. Make the effort to tell resonate, relevant stories—to every constituent, through every channel—make the effort to deliver real, valuable, differentiating information, evidence and experiences—make me want to trust you—and your brand will stand out. And people will buy. Some things never change.

And Bob Dylan was right: “he not a-busy being born is a-busy dying.”

-Tom Sheehan is Principal at tomsheehan worldwide. He can be reached at tomsheehan@tomsheehan.com.