Technology and Marketing History Personified: A Conversation With the Man Who Helped Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Countless Others Bring Their Products To Market
“Skate To Where the Puck Is Going To Be”
It’s one of Raja’s favorite quotes (….even if HE took it from “The Great One”, Wayne Gretzky)
When it comes to the realm of technology, and helping some of the true titans of the modern technology envision where their creations can take all of us as a society, nobody skated more directly and effectively to where the “puck” was going to be than Regis McKenna.
Heck, you likely wouldn’t even be READING this if it weren’t for Regis McKenna’s decision to open his door in 1970, by starting the creatively named “Regis McKenna Inc” tech marketing firm. And the names that walked through that door would end up being a “Murderer’s Row” of the tech industry.
Apple. Microsoft. Intel. AOL. Electronic Arts. 3COM. And many more. It’s a safe bet to say that NONE of these names would have been as successful from Day One if it wasn’t for “The Regis Touch”. (Just read the 2011 Walter Isaacson biography of Steve Jobs to see how much influence he had on the early days of Apple.)
And after almost 50 years of being one of, if not THE, foremost leaders in tech thought in American history, he’s not slowing down anytime soon. Just ask him about the good, the bad, and the ugly of the footprint that social media has left on all of our lives.
On top of it all, Regis is another in the LONG litany of success stories from Western Pennsylvania, and on November 24, he was Raja’s guest on “The Raja Show”.
When the Hard Work of One Becomes the Opportunity For Many: The Story of Lance Shaner and Shaner Hotels
Listen to The Raja Show for just a few minutes, and the message becomes clear: With hard work, determination, and a never-say-die attitude, you can achieve pretty much anything you want in life, and succeed beyond your wildest expectations.
It’s how Raja has lived his life and earned his success, and as such, he tends to gravitate toward those who have done the same. From the people he hires in his companies to his business partners to the guests on his show.
Hard work and dedication recognize hard work and dedication, right?
So what’s Raja to do when he meets a guy who had a passion and a lifelong interest in property management and ownership, to the point where he acquired his first hotel, a Sheraton Hotel in his native Western New York, before the age of 30?
And when that same guy parlays ownership and operation of that one hotel into dozens more over the course of the next 35 years, currently holding over 50 hotels in 17 states, and many more properties internationally?
Well, Raja invites him onto the show to discuss his story, that’s what. It’s what he does!
On this Saturday’s edition of “The Raja Show”, Raja talks with Lance Shaner, Chairman and CEO of Shaner Hotels. And yes, Lance WILL talk about his story, and that of Shaner Hotels. But while the “who”, “what”, “when”, “where”, and “how” of this story are nice, fun, exotic, inspirational and motivational in their own right, it’s the “why” that truly matters. When you hear Lance discuss the thousands of jobs he has created among his properties, and the substantial economic and charitable impact that has been made on each of his property locales, you’ll know right away what has TRULY driven Lance’s success as one of the preeminent figures in the hospitality industry.
