JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Brian Austin Whitney Blog Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

Hi Folks,

We just returned from our 5 week Roadtrip tour to Paris, France. It was an excellent visit and we made a lot of new face to face friends and contacts. I even ran into the daughter of an Entertainment attorney I know there by random chance (small world sort of like when we ran into a Grand Rapids chapter member back in the ruins of Pompeii, very near where the recent collapse occured there). The focus of this visit was very different than previous tours and I couldn't be happier with the results. First and foremost it was my first extended tour since my strokes in early 2010 and I did very well across the board physically. You don't know how things will go until you do it and though we were all nervous and a bit worried, including all of my doctors and family/friends, I took the leap of faith and was rewarded with good health and a great energizing experience.

One of my focuses has always been to expand JPF even more around the world by actually traveling to people and meeting them face to face. I've done that 6 months a year, mostly in the US and Canada, but going to other countries is an important part of that strategy as well. I also want to expand to other creative fields outside of music (film, graphic arts, theater and acting, photography, dance etc.) and I really worked hard on that in Paris and made a great deal of new contacts in all those fields. I have felt for many years that a symbiotic relationship with all those other creative folks would be key to providing creative content to the world in the new age of instant connectivity to everyone everywhere. I felt going somewhere that had language differences would test and sharpen my own networking skills to the betterment of my efforts going forward and I was right. And it was a lot of fun to do.

I have a long list of people to follow up with as well as tons of existing contacts to reconnect with as I step more into my old work habits which I had to withdraw from to regain my health. I still have serious medical issues in my life, but I've proven to myself that I can get past them and that was perhaps the greatest triumph of this latest Roadtrip.

Now I am going to once again try and light the flames under a collection of JPF chapters and re-engage with those that have been moving along without my direct involvement for far too long this year.

Onward and upwards!

Brian