In my book, I dreamed about a 24 hour cable TV show dedicated to photography.

Then, when fantastic resources like Photography Mentor and The B School came along, I was convinced my vision was happening sooner than I thought. On the heals of individual efforts like the Simple Photo Minute in the early days of video podcasting (as well as the more updated and upcoming AskDane.com), these pioneers have begun to create mass amounts of content to really drive where we’re headed.

Now it’s looking like another significant player has arrived with the announcement of The Photography Network.

Led by industry icons, Denis Reggie, Bambi Cantrell and Joe Buissink, this is sure to make a dramatic addition to the learning landscape. I was excited, humbled and a little surprised to be included in their promotional video (click The Concept in the lower left when you go to the site) but am really glad to be seen as someone playing a part in the leading of our incredible industry. And as Seth Godin says, lead we must!

These are extraordinary times to be a photographer and gaining access to the best and brightest will really help to raise the stakes for all of us.

Super stoked!
- Dane

(1) forgot my name.

(2) quickly remembered me and my book.

(3) gave the most succinct articulation of what my book is about (i.e, “Dane wrote a book about photography that’s not really about photography“).

(4) answered my question (which was… “When you’re leading, do you or those you’re leading get to decide what strategy you take?”… he then goes on to make a powerful distinction between strategy vs. tactics that you’ll want to replay a couple times to let sink in… (his answer by the way was a perfect shout out to Michele Mollkoy).

(5) made my day by feeling guilty about forgetting my name and gifting me with an über-rare Purple Cow original… Seth later told me I better not sell it on ebay.

I realize I already posted on this here but when J shared the video link with me, I couldn’t resist sharing it with you.

The fact that Seth not only read my book, endorsed it (you gotta see the jacket cover to know what he said), remembered what it said and then had the class to plug it a number of times from stage was, well, remarkable. So, thus, I must remark.

More than all that though, his answer is just too good to miss.

As a side note, as you listen, pay special attention when he uses the words…

• Stand
• Commit
• Believe
• Lead

I say he is spot on. And, the power of what he is saying may just change everything for you (and me) if we take them to heart and put them to action.

Here is Seth’s response to my question…

Keep it purple.
- Dane

PS… here’s the link to Seth’s new book. Don’t waste any time. You can also save a little money (and maybe a tree) by getting the Kindle edition or let Seth read it to you thanks to iTunes.

The following is a true story that I still can barely believe:

So, I’m boarding my plane for NYC last night and I get a Twitter from my friends Joy and Jules that they too are taking the red-eye to JFK for PPE. I’m thinking how cool it is that Twitter connected me with dear friends and split our car ride to the city three ways. Sweet!

With our plans in place for the morning, I settled into my comfy JetBlue seat and read my book (which just happened to be the all new Tribes by Seth Godin). Little did I know that the power of Twitter (and Providence) was just beginning to show…

I landed a bit before Jules and Joy did so I grabbed everyone coffee and met them at the gate. While I was waiting, I got a Twitter from my buddy J Sandifer. He said he saw our twitters and wondered if I was up for making it downtown to go see Seth Godin! Can you believe the coincidence? The only catch was I needed to make it there by 7:15am which gave us about 25 minutes.

We went for it but traffic was thick and I Twittered J and asked for help. Even though he had his own ticket, he decided to be the hero and totally hooked us up. I was thrilled that we were going to have a chance to hear Seth speak. Ha! Once again, Providence had another idea…

When we arrived, we walked right into Seth himself! As some of you who’ve received my book already know, Seth was kind enough to read and endorse it on the back cover and I finally had a chance to thank him in person. It was a pretty surreal and humbling experience to hand him a signed copy of my book while he was signing his for me.

Seth’s program was off the charts. His invitation to define marketing as leading is a mind blowing concept that left me with a sense of responsibility and anticipation. What a prize! As if that wasn’t enough, Seth then opened things up for questions and after answering mine gave me the lone (and invaluable) Purple Cow in an actual Milk Carton!

He also just happened to plug my book two or three times from the stage. Did I mention I’m having a good day? Ask my friends… I was beaming and blushing at the same time.

Many of you know how much I love New York but today it went to an entirely new level. I was so excited, I just had to share. Bless you guys…

- Dane