Ted Tuesday: Meet The Happiest Kid In The World

"Adults ask kids, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Adults want to hear I want to be an astronaut or neurosurgeon. Us kids will answer surfer, Minecraft player, skateboarder or something we are more stoked on, what we think is cool.. what have experience with.. and that’s usually the opposite of what adults want to hear.”

~~Hackschooling Makes Me Happy:Logan LaPlante at TEDx University of Nevada

Good Morning Folks,

You have Marketing Intern Emily Bowen to thank for introducing me to 13-year old Logan LaPlante, a kid genius whose Ted Talk already has 6 million views and will show you how a great presentation is done. This young man is impressive in every single way. You have to see and hear the happiness he expresses in what he is doing in his life for such a young age. 

Talk about some one born for the role of Chief Happiness Officer! A "mini" me!

When 13 year-old curious and creative Logan LaPlante grows up, he wants to be happy and healthy. He discusses how hacking his education is helping him achieve this goal because he wonders why happy and healthy aren't subjects taught in traditional schools. He really deserves a Nobel for this. The most common sense and intelligence I have seen in some time. 

He combines the “hacker mindset” with a network of do-it-yourself friends, family, and community organizations to optimize for health, happiness, creativity, and wisdom. He calls it “hackschooling”.

Blogs Emily:

"As I was scrolling through my Facebook timeline, I came across a video that had been shared of a thirteen year old boy speaking at a Tedx Talk event. The boy's name is Logan Laplante, and he was taken out of school to be homeschooled. His impressive public speaking ability (at such a young age) wasn't the only thing that caught my attention. Like all good presenters, his story and message were intriguing and made me think about a few things. 

Unlike many children or teens who are asked the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?", he not only had an answer- but also a plan. The overarching theme of Logan's talk was how his goal is to [continue to] be happy and healthy. Through what he calls "hackschooling," Logan is able to tailor his education and style of learning to be focused on what interests him. According to him, hackschooling includes four things: a creative hacker mindset, experimental classes & camps, technology & online resources and the 8 researched tactics to being happy and healthy. By not being a part of the traditional education system that we know today, Logan has the opportunity to achieve his goals by learning through real life experiences. 

Much like Logan’s thesis of learning about what interests you and things you are passionate about, I believe everyone should have the opportunity from day one of college to get the most value for their money. Given the chance, I could have spent more time taking marketing and other supporting courses that would be more relevant to my field, such as Graphic Design."

And now here's "Hackschooling Makes Me Happy:

Logan LaPlante at TEDx University of Nevada

Logan loves skiing and is on the Alpine Freestyle Team where he enjoys competing in the big mountain Junior Freeskiing Tour and USASA Halfpipe and Railjams. As an intern at Bigtruck Brand in Truckee, Logan is working on developing his design, sewing, and business skills. Logan has performed in Young Chautauqua for the past 4 years as the notorious “Billy the Kid”, Sir Edmund Hillary, and most recently the psychopathic yet infamous Al Capone.

Logan enjoys public speaking and has been watching TED videos for as long as he can remember. He hopes that with his opportunity to speak at TEDx he can inspire some kids, parents, and educators to think differently about education and to make health, happiness, creativity, and wisdom a priority.

At the end of the day, a degree is a sheet of paper- a very expensive, needed one. It is how you take what you’ve learned, no matter how relevant, and apply it to real life that will test whether it was worth the time and effort.

We need more “hacker” mindsets in our society today, and it is enlightening that there are people like Logan who can have such a clear vision at such a young age.

Each of you can benefit from watching this. Something to share with your parents and friends! Please pass this along to others!

Like Logan, how lucky are we to be able be given new chances to improve ourselves, improve the way we serve our clients, improve the way we work with our staff, as well as to improve the way these opportunities are spread among all levels of employment at FSO. This is important. 

Let's all go make things happen today. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE.  


About FSO Onsite Outsourcing
Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the third consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.

Ted Tuesday: Paolo Cardini's Forget Multitasking, Try Monotasking

"Multitasking only works for a very few people. As Paolo stated, only 2% of people are "super-taskers" who can multi-task efficiently. The rest of us, when we try to multi-task, often end up doing many things poorly, instead of one thing well."

Good Morning Folks,

With 1,651,644 views on Ted's site, Industrial Product designer Paolo Cardini's Forget multitasking, try monotasking (aka The Power of Focus) is already a big hit.

For many of us, multitasking is part of everyday life: Tweeting, evaluating a revolutionary business startup and preparing a sandwich all in the same minute comes as second nature.

But perhaps we should start looking at the concept of multitasking as outdated -- inefficient. In the clip below (a video from TedTalks), designer Paolo Cardini makes a case for monotasking -- or as we often put it, unit asking. His charming 3D-printed smartphone covers just might help.



What is your focus? Think about it. Will you be in control of your POWER of FOCUS, or will you fall into the trap of firefighting, not in control of your time, busy with activities that are not in line with the corporate goals or mine that you have been given?

Our people, from mail room clerks to front of house to our Sr. Management team are driven by one simple focused goal, make today better than it was yesterday. Our people never stop looking for ways to make our clients life better. When I talk about passion, it is not just a tag line for our brand it is the way we approach everything we do.

Focus at FSO is on providing employees that not only can deliver services, but have the fire, skip and twinkle in how they deliver Hospitality service. The FSO Experience is a different level of White Glove Service. We are not happy with just meeting expectations as that is only a passing grade for our competitors. We want them to feel the difference!

How lucky are we to be able be given new chances to improve ourselves, improve the way we serve our clients, improve the way we work with our staff, as well as to improve the way these opportunities are spread among all levels of employment at FSO. This is important. 

Let's all go make things happen today. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE.  


About FSO Onsite Outsourcing
Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the second consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.

Ted Tuesday: A "Double" Feature— Paolo Cardini: Forget Multitasking, Try Monotasking

"People aren’t just cooking anymore -- they’re cooking, texting, talking on the phone, watching YouTube and uploading photos of the awesome meal they just made. Or worse, doing it all and driving!"

Good Morning Folks,

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the level of technology that is available to you? Maybe, like me you feel like you are constantly multitasking and it just may not be the most efficient way to get what you need done.

People aren’t just cooking anymore -- they’re cooking, texting, talking on the phone, watching YouTube and uploading photos of the awesome meal they just made.

With over 1,602,736 views, Paolo Cardini's TedGlobal Talk, likes asking some important questions about the way we live, like: Does multitasking actually help us become more efficient? How far will social networking go? Who are the players in the myriad conflicts in the Arab world? What is the next frontier in product development? -- and trying to answer them with playful designs, like his I Like Sit chaise lounge, which updates your Facebook status depending on your position, and MiddleField, a foosball table depicting different players in the Middle East.

For TEDGlobal 2012 Cardini created a unique product called the MONOtask project. To help you deal with your overly multitasked life, Cardini has designed 3D-printed smartphone covers that "downgrade" your phone to be much dumber.

Following Cardini's talk is a very special short ad that's relevant to topic and a must see (skip the ad preroll to the ad which is Google throwing a Lexus ad on a Volkswagen PSA, go figure!). Kudos Volkswagen. What a brilliant way to communicate how risky it is to use mobile phones while driving. You'll be wanting to share this with everyone you know.




Cardini is currently an MFA Design Assistant Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar.

FSO is growing at an extremely fast pace. Outsiders want to know the keys to that success -- the driving force behind the ambition. We know it's our people that make the difference. So please don't text and drive. We won't be the same without you!

Let's all go make things happen today. I look forward to seeing you soon.


Love Life!

Mitchell D. Weiner

Chief Happiness Officer  

Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form.TED Tuesdays on MitchWeiner.com highlights some of today's most intriguing ideas. Look for more talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more— HERE. 

About FSO Onsite Outsourcing
Recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of the nation's fastest growing companies for the second consecutive year, and lead by industry pioneer, Mitch Weiner, FSO's growth and success can be attributed to making a positive and powerful impact on their clients' bottom lines, as well as their employees' careers and lives.

See a brief video portrait of who we are and what can can do for you, HERE