Commencement Speech Five Towns College, Long Island, NY June 2015

Thank you President Barr, Provost Miller,

distinguished members of the Five Towns College Board of Trustees, administration, faculty and my fellow honorees.

What better way to start a Holiday weekend than to spend the morning with this wonderful Class of 2015?

Members of the Class of 2015 …

You are amazing!

Today this theater overflows with the great pride and love of those who join us to congratulate you … along with the love of those who wish they could be here …

You have made your families, parents, husbands, wives, friends and colleagues very proud.

You are great and I am proud of you too.

I applaud you for all you have accomplished.

And … the best is yet to come.

The degree you receive today comes with an amazing treasure chest overflowing with remarkable tools.

Remarkable tools you will use again and again to get the job done many times in the coming years.

You have learned a lot …

Now, it’s time to get to work.

Whether tomorrow brings the beginning of a new career or advancement at your current job …

or maybe it’s time for you to raise a family or earn another degree.

Whatever you plan … don’t let your education stop today.

Keep your Five Towns College tool chest handy. Those tools will need to be kept polished and well used.

You invested long hours, many dollars and a lot of hard work to get where you are today.

Now, it’s time to make sure your investment pays the dividends you so well deserve.

When I was twelve years old I asked my Dad if I could have the keys to his car.

He looked me in the eye and said if I was serious … I better learn how to drive first.

At 12, I certainly was not ready to drive a car.

So Dad promised to give me the keys when I proved I was a capable driver.

My father wasn’t a perfect man but he was a good man. I loved him very much.

He gave me solid advice, encouraged me to live my dreams and was always there when an emergency occurred.

… but at times, as I grew up, I felt he wasn’t paying enough attention to me … placing me somewhere mid-level on his long list of priorities.

I felt I always had to fight for Dad’s attention.

My Uncle Joe, not my father finally taught me to drive when I was sixteen.

Growing up I found myself looking to those outside my family for guidance and advice.

Many of my teachers were totally amazing. They inspired and supported my search for knowledge.

The dozen or so business mentors who adopted me throughout my career helped me turn my crazy ideas into dream come true realities.

I started my first career after graduating from college as a Mad Man.

If you have been watching Mad Men, the cable series about advertising in the 60’s, 70’s and ‘80’s you have a glimpse of what the beginning of my career was like.

At the end of the Mad Men era, back in the early 1970’s I was a young advertising exec with the ambition to change the world. Most of my clients were in the entertainment business.

One of the initial accounts I was assigned was a company called Ticketron.

Ticketron called itself the first computerized entertainment ticketing company in the world.

As any good Mad Man would do, I decided to learn everything I could about my new client and how they did business.

So I visited Ticketron and met with the senior execs of their parent company.

As I asked a ton of questions, it quickly became clear to me that Ticketron’s world changing computerized ticket system was not much more than smoke and mirrors.

– my client was just a marketing gimmick.

Ticketron’s parent company was at that time a national leader in computer technology … yet the mega Ticketron computer that supposedly held all the seats in the house did not even exist.

I was told they had no interest in putting any effort into building a real computer box office system.

I felt they were missing a great opportunity. They laughed at me when I told them that.

So, if they weren’t interested in doing it … then I would build a game changing ticketing system all by myself.

I was energized. I had unlimited confidence in myself and knew I had what it takes to make history.

… actually I was too dumb to realize I really knew absolutely nothing about computers and how they worked.

My youthful infectious excitement about my “project” and my Mad Men enthusiasm to hype a product I believe in enabled me to entice an NYU professor to become my partner.

Together we were confident we could actually build the world’s first truly automated box office system.

… even though my new partner also knew almost nothing about computers and technlogy.

We set to work and created a business plan and what we felt would be an accurate budget.

All we needed now was a client.

Somehow I got permission to present our idea to the League of New York Theaters.

We polished our flip charts.

In those days there was no such thing as PowerPoint.

We practiced our sales pitch making sure we could answer any possible question thrown at us.

The day of the presentation arrived and the room was filled with the many legendary producers and theater owners who ruled Broadway.

Our presentation was dazzling.

Worthy of a standing ovation.

As we finished we paused, waiting for the cheers and applause we expected.

There was a moment of silence.

Then a few chuckles … then some jeers … as we were ridiculed for suggesting … what might just be the worst idea in theatrical history.

Literally it felt like the breath – every bit of breath - had been knocked from my lungs.

But somehow … in the next minute my life got better.

Really better.

Amid the mumbling a throat in the back of the room was being cleared as Bernard Jacobs, President of the Shubert Theater Organization stood up and said.

“This sounds like a good idea. Kid, the Shuberts will hire you guys to build this for us. Let’s go to my office and sign an agreement.”

It actually took a few days to sign the contract … then about 18 months to deliver the Shubert Ticketing system that includes Telecharge, America’s first truly computerized telephone reservation system for live theater.

As they say the rest is history.

We had created a theatrical blockbuster.

Today, if you go to Broadway or see a show in Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia … chances are the ticket you purchase owes its origin to my partner, myself and most importantly to Bernie Jacobs a forward thinking leader, who became a most excellent client and a life changing mentor to me.

Mentors help us reach our goals and offer us a hand when we fall.

At times, this game of life can be thrilling and difficult.

The good thing is … we are not in it alone.

Human beings have needed mentors since the early days of creation.

You have certainly heard of those ancient mentors who helped guide and advise civilizations over the centuries

Confucius, Socrates, Plato, Ben Franklin, Oprah,

John Stewart, P Diddy, Mike Francesa.

We find guidance in those smart folks we admire and trust.

In my day there was a very wise Dean whose words still sing in my heart.

He realized those who insist on trying to do it all on their own are the real losers.

Their bank accounts may appear to be bulging but as my favorite Dean and a popular mentor of the last century Dean Martin so wisely said, “Gold won’t buy you happiness when you’re your growing old”.

Dean Martin offered another good piece of advice, “You’re nobody till somebody loves you.”

And among my lifelong mentors there are several whom I do love and cherish with all my heart.

My wonderfully supportive and very patient mentor and wife of 44 years taught me …

True wealth is found in a ton of love … not in a pot of gold.

My two daughters mentor me every day. They help me stay on track when that pot of gold or some other silly distraction catches my eye.

All I need do is think of them to once again focus on the truly important things in life.

Class of 2015, as you prepare to take the next step in your life you might be a little frightened.

It is a tough world out there.

It is just about guaranteed you will face obstacles along the way to challenge you and your dreams.

Hopefully you will easily step over your roadblocks to success.

Good as we all hope you do, chances are you are going to experience a few failures along the way.

Thanks to my professors, mentors and most of all my family I have managed to chalk up a few successes throughout my career.

But along with some success I have had quite a number of mishaps and failures too.

In fact, the most important secret career tool pulled from my treasure chest of knowledge has been my learned appreciation of the tremendous positive value of failure.

If we can learn from failure than success in just about guaranteed.

Throughout my life I have done a lot of stupid things.

Some, I can actually talk about in a distinguished gathering such as today’s ceremony.

About seven years ago I received a phone call from Les Hollander, an old friend.

I had reconnected with him on Linkedin.

Les wanted to discuss an idea. “Could we get together next Tuesday?”

I was going on vacation that week and asked if we could meet when I returned. He said he wanted to see me ASAP.

“How about lunch day after tomorrow?”

I was fine with that and asked him where we should meet.

He suggested somewhere close to the airport because he would be flying in from San Francisco just for our lunch.

Wow. He is coming from San Francisco. I was thinking he must be interested in more than merely catching up.

It turned out he wanted me to get involved with some new Internet company he and his brother were setting up.

We had a nice lunch. I listened and tried to comprehend the value in his new venture.

During my vacation the following week I researched, explored and found out all I could about Les’ new project.

I kind of liked the idea of his new business … but try as I could, I could not bring myself to leave the security of my job at a local college to set up an office in Greenwich Village and bring this new internet service to college students across America.

When I returned from vacation I called Les and told him I had no interest in his new company. --- Pandora Radio.

A few years later when Les left Pandora he was a rich man and I was still “secure” on campus serving as a college administrator.

Next time I will be more diligent in my research.

A side bar – today, Les is involved with another silly Internet startup business but because I dissed him the last time he never called me to get involved.

Perhaps you’ve heard of it --- Spotify. ????

But I really do try to learn from my mistakes.

One thing I have learned is that most success involves taking a leap of faith, conquering fears and being willing to accept the responsibility whether the outcome turns out to be success or failure.

Graduates, stay energized … take those leaps of faith.

And when you are faced with failure, take a deep breath, refocus on the important things in your life and then head straight back on course toward success.

Class of 2015, I am pretty happy about where my life and career have taken me.

I wish each of you many more successes than I have achieved and less than half of my failures.

As my Dad was faced with the last stages of life we spent his final days together.

He asked me to sit by his side and remind him of the important things we shared over the years. During these precious days we reconnected and talked about many things.

The morning he died he told me he had a special gift for me. There were tears in my eyes as he handed me his car keys.

“Son, it’s time to give these to you. You’ve had a few bumps along the way but you proved to me that you’ve learned to drive.”

Class of 2015, your future is waiting for you.

Show us how well you drive, and the keys are yours.

Thank you.