Sunday, March 1, 2009

The Magic Hat


San Diego was the host city for the 1999 HOW Conference. While on break from the HOW stuff I checked out the San Diego zoo with a friend. Suzanna. Oh! Suzanna. We went into the gift shop in the African section of the zoo and I picked up a hat. Suzanna said I should try it on. I did. She said it looked great and I should buy it. So I did, not too sure that it was a good idea. Until I wore it outside. Someone immediately said, "Cool hat." And the comments have never stopped. The hat became a great conversation opener and I was easy to spot in a crowd. As the years passed, I realized what "branding" meant. The hat became my brand just as sure as any logo. Because of all the people I met with the hat on my head, I called it the magic hat. It really was a magnet for people, just like my art car. I like people, so that was a good thing. A magical thing. I forget when I found out the exact origin of the hat but the tribe is the Wodaabe from Niger.      

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