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A Eureka Tent Was My 7 Year Old’s Favorite Birthday Present

My son just turned 7 years old this week. Surprisingly his favorite birthday present was a Eureka tent. We signed him up for cub scouts a few months ago. My wife and I agree that scouting is a good life experience for our boy. Which is good because otherwise I would have to sneak him away to the meetings. My son, Jan, is somewhat of a ham. He loves attention, and will get it anyway he can. When I first started taking him out to fish or hike, he would act scared. I think he was just acting to get attention, because in other situations he seems pretty fearless. Like running in the woods in the dark… I’ll finish that story later in just a minute. So, my son has been pretty excited about being a cub scout. At his age scouting is all about fun and getting the kids to learn something without them realizing it and running away covering there ears.

For Jan’s 7th Birthday, his grandmother went online to the scouting supply store, and bought him a Class A uniform, and other scout supplies including the BSA 75th Anniversary Akela 2 person Eureka tent, which is no longer available. Jan’s mother and I got him… toys. We figured we would have him open grandma’s presents first, thinking he would like them but would want toys, so we saved the remote helicopter and video game and transformers for last. Well, we should have done it the other way around, who knew. After opening everything the first thing he wanted to do was set up the tent.

So we went out back and started unpacking it. Of course Jan wanted to do it all, even if he didn’t know what he was doing. I have to hand it to him though, after a few minutes he figured most of it out. He wasn’t quite strong enough to bend the poles in order to insert the pins, but I was there to help him with that. Once I got the pins inserted into the poles, he started clipping the tents sides to the poles. I got to tell you the quick clips, shock corded poles, and ring pin / pole features are really great. They make setting up and tearing down a breeze. I was really surprised once we got it set up. The thing is huge for a 7 year old. I’m sure it will last him clear until he’s a full BoyScout, especially since its made by Eureka. Most of you probably already know a 2 person tent will only fit 1 person comfortably, because you need room for your gear. Well, Jan definitely had plenty of room. The dogs liked it too.

The next day I had to rush home from work at the end of the day because Jan’s cub scout troop had a camping trip planned at Starkey Park. Starkey Park is a great campground by the way. It’s located in New Port Richey, Florida about 45 minutes from Tampa Bay. Its a good thing me and Jan got familiar with the tent the night before, because by the time I got us there it was already getting dark. Making camp wasn’t too hard even though light was scarce. When the Troop Leader stopped by to say hi, he noticed we had two tents setup and look a little confused. He thought it was really strange that Jan would be sleeping alone. I just told him Jan was very independent and didn’t want to share his new tent. After that we started building a fire, which didn’t take long. Jan decided he wanted to move his tent a few feet further away from the fire and before I could say anything he took out the stakes and moved the whole thing back. I wouldn’t have been able to do that with my old pop tent. That ring and pin/pole feature is really cool.

This is the part where my son receives his first black eye. It’s that special time in a boys life when he realizes getting hurt isn’t as bad as being afraid of getting hurt. Jan saw his best friend two campsites away from us and went running after him, completely disregarding my calls. You would think its common sense not to run in the woods in the dark(unless your being chased by a madman with a machete), unfortunately common sense isn’t that common in children. Jan tripped over a log and fell on a tree stump. It caught him just below his left eye. A half an inch higher and his nickname, “Jan the Pirate” would have some real weight to it. Jan stood up holding his eye, which made me start to freak out just a little. Luckily It wasn’t anywhere close to as bad as my overactive fatherly imagination first thought. I was relieved when I saw that his eye was still very much intact, but I could tell right away that he was going to have a shiner.

Jan took it like a man, I couldn’t believe it. He didn’t cry or anything, just got a bit of an attitude because he was embarrassed that he fell. After Jan begrudgingly let me look at his wound, he went into his tent and zipped up the doors and windows. He thought the other boys would make fun of him. One of the den mothers brought us over some ice to keep the swelling down. We gave Jan the ice and talked him out of the tent with the prospect of roasting marshmallows. To Jan’s surprise, and mine, all the other boys thought Jan was the toughest scout there due to his lack of tears; and even some of the older boys admitted they would have cried.

The next morning before breakfast at the pavilion, me and Jan packed up. We ate and did some activities and played baseball with the other cub scouts. I had a bit of a hard time with him when it was time to go, until I told him we had to go to another birthday party(big families are the best). After we got home, I told Jan we had to clean up all out camping gear. I got to listen to some moaning and groaning about that, until I told him he was in charge of setting up his tent to dry out. Jan’s birthday tent made a fun weekend an unforgettable one.

I started writing this article to recommend the BSA’s 75th Anniversary Akela Eureka Tent, but, before I could finish it I came to the realization that it is no longer available. I can, However, recommend a comparable Eureka tent that would suit a cub scout or boyscout. The Apex 2 – 3 Season Eureka Tent is almost identical to the Akela Eureka Tent. Both have about 36 sqft of area, ring and pin/pole assembly, and shock corded poles. They also weigh about the same at a little over 5 lbs. And you can count on a Eureka tent to last.

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Five Presentation Techniques Not to Use as a Speaker

I hope you will learn some good presentation techniques by my pointing out what NOT to do when presenting. Remember the following are techniques to AVOID.

Be late for your presentation, or rush in at the last minute, just in time. This will convince the meeting planner and the audience members of how busy a person you are. You didn’t even have time to call them to let them know you were on the way. It will just make your arrival more dramatic and will also let them know how little you care about them or the impression you are making (or not making).

Don’t worry about your appearance. After all, they hired you for your expertise, not because of the way you look. You were in too much of a hurry to make sure that your clothes were pressed and your shoes were shined. Anyway, you are a creative person who doesn’t worry about looking sharp. Besides, the audience is dressed in casual attire, so why shouldn’t you? Even though we hate to believe it, their first impression of your sloppiness will remain as a lasting impression of you as a non-professional.

Start your presentation with a joke that has nothing to do with your topic. Isn’t this the time-tested formula that speakers have been using for years? How about an off-color joke, at that? That will really cement you as a far-from-professional presenter in their estimation. Or, if you don’t have a joke, you can always start with the lame opening, “It’s so nice to be here with you today.” That will knock them off their seats and get them to sit up and pay attention.

Become known for your large array of mannerisms and/or distracting habits. You can work to add many of these to your repertoire. Some habits to try are: filler words such as “um,” “er,” “you know,” pacing back and forth, swinging your arms, putting your hands in your pockets (jingling change will enhance this habit), picking at your clothes, wringing your hands, smoothing your hair, swaying from side to side, glancing at your watch continually, leaning on the lectern, putting your hand in front of your mouth, and laughing so hard at your own jokes you can’t continue. All of these are guaranteed to keep your audience from remembering anything you told them.

Do not pay attention to your voice and/or speed of speaking. After all, if you have meaningful information, it doesn’t matter, does it, if you speak in a monotone, or speed along so that you can fit it all into your limited time frame. Both of these techniques are guaranteed to cause your audience to “turn off” and take a needed rest. They may even thank you for the break.

Banish all of the techniques that I have highlighted, and you will give presentations that listeners learn from and enjoy. And, you will be asked back!

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Negotiating – It’s Not a Giveaway Program – It’s Like Trading

As I’ve often said, “If you make a mistake and don’t repeat it, then it becomes part of your experience base.” As a result, it should become one of the lessons you’ve learned. On the other hand, if you repeat the same mistake, then shame on you!

Here’s one lesson I’ll never forget. About twenty five years ago , I believe I made the biggest negotiating mistake of my career. I actually gave something away at the negotiating table without getting anything in return. I agreed to pay an extra year of licensing fees. As the fees were at a reduced rate, it really didn’t appear to amount to much in the context of the total agreement.

About one year later, I found out that what appeared to be a minor point during the negotiations, turned out to be a deal breaker for the other party. In fact, had the other party not gotten the additional licensing fees, irrespective of what they might have had to give in return, the bank would have withdrawn their offer to finance this party’s leveraged buyout of another division of the company. In essence, there would not have been any possibility of the other party consummating their buyout, and they “won” an enormous point without having to give anything in return.

While this is a simplistic overview of the negotiations leading up to this particular point, had our team had any information regarding the importance of this point for the other party, we could have gotten some concessions we wanted in return for the additional licensing fees. Another experience learned the hard way.

At the same time, you have to be careful not to take the information you’ve gathered about the other party’s situation and use it to hammer them into submission, as the other party probably will spend a significant amount of time and effort “getting even” at some time in the future. By way of example, early in my career, I negotiated a licensing agreement which was very favorable to the licensee in terms of the benefits versus the costs. About two years into the seven year agreement, the licensor had the opportunity to “level the playing field.” The licensor had developed the next generation raw material used in the process which offered significant cost savings opportunities in the manufacturing process. The licensee had no choice but to purchase their requirements from the licensor. You guessed it! The licensor charged a premium for the new raw material that more than made up for the shortfall he believed he had been forced to accept when the original license agreement was signed.

Lessons learned: You need to do your homework and obtain as much information as possible about the other party prior to the actual negotiations. Once at the negotiating table, ask open ended questions to get additional information. Never give anything away without getting something in return. At the same time, be careful not to hammer the other party into submission.

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