Excited to be the opening keynote at Channel Visionaries 2016

Excited to be the opening keynote for the Channel Visionaries event in Santa Clara on June 2, 2016.  

http://www.channelvisionaries.com/channel-chief-series/day-1-agenda/

 

Channel Visionaries is the fasting growing community of senior technology channel executives looking to network at a dotted line and share best practices. Our community members gain a competitive advantage by collectively revolutionizing their channel ecosystems in order to adapt to a new era of radical channel transformation. 

In today’s business environment, companies are more dependent than ever on partners as their extended sales and support teams. Winning with partners is key to winning with customers, and this raises the stakes for effective channel management.

Join us at our world class series of content driven conferences spanning the globe from the Silicon Valley to Singapore. Leverage our online community portal between events to keep the conversation and collaboration flowing. If you're a channel leader, Channel Visionaries will give you the tools you need to elevate your personal brand and to keep on top of the latest industry trends so that you can be much more effective as a channel leader.

Channel Chief Conference Series

JUNE 2ND & 3RD, 2016SANTA CLARA MARRIOTT, CA

In today’s business environment, companies are more dependent than ever on partners as their extended sales and support teams. Winning with partners is key to winning with customers, and this raises the stakes for effective channel management. Building and managing a channel ecosystem is critical to improving your company’s efficiency and effectiveness. At this conference, we’ll explore the latest strategies to consider for achieving amazing results in revenue acceleration and maximizing partner performance. It’s not enough to seek operational excellence from your partner efforts. You must seek a competitive advantage. Sadly, many companies are failing to achieve this type of success. By some estimates, as many as 70% of alliances fall short of expectations for both the channel partners and for the companies selling through those channels. But, how can you tell if you are one of these companies? Here are some of the telltale signs that a company’s channel management is under-performing:

• Poor alignment between how sales, product teams and the partner program define “best” partners
• Weak performance by significant numbers of top-tier partner
• Unclear ROI due to a lack of understanding of how partners deliver value
• Unsuccessful attempts to drive new partner behavior through existing partner relationships
• Passive execution that reacts to rather than fuels business outcomes

Often, the root cause of a company’s channel management problems is not its people or its positioning, but its approach. Your channel investments should focus on how you will win with partners in a competitive context.

Our agenda has a mix of current Channel Chiefs passionate about channel transformation and leaders of world class suppliers to the channel industry that consistently help channel organizations gain a competitive advantage in the Technology industry
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ChannelEyes CEO Recognized Again as a Top 20 Channel Visionary

ChannelPro-SMB, the premier source of business and technology insights for I.T. channel partners serving the small and midsize business market, has announced its second annual list of 20/20 Visionaries for 2016.

ChannelPro 20/20 Visionaries - Jay McBain

TROY, N.Y. - May 13, 2016 -  The ChannelPro 20/20 Visionaries are comprised of 20 influential, go-to authorities in managed services, cloud computing, and partner support and education from the vendor, analyst, and consulting communities, as well as 20 of the most far-sighted resellers, MSPs, and community leaders from the SMB partner community. These are the IT professionals who not only serve their SMB clients with top solutions and services, but move the industry forward with innovative ideas, a commitment to continual improvement, and a willingness to share what they know to help others succeed in the market.

Jay McBain represents ChannelEyes who continue to drive thought leadership in the global channel community by introducing forward-looking software to help vendors communicate, engage and drive more revenue with their valued partners. After success with Social and Mobile products, ChannelEyes recently introduced OPTYX - a Predictive Analytics platform that assists Channel Account Managers with the complicated task of managing a territory, prioritizing activities, and improving interactions with alliances and partners.

"We are proud to reveal this year's class of smart, insightful thinkers," said Cecilia Galvin, executive editor, ChannelPro-SMB. "Many of the honorees, such as McBain, who made the grade in 2016 did so last year as well, but there are some new faces too. What they all have in common is a deep understanding of the channel and how to thrive in it."

OPTYX is a predictive alerting, scoring and prioritization solution that helps channel organizations increase indirect sales by optimizing partner interactions based on data science. Designed as a workflow tool that runs seamlessly with Salesforce and other CRM systems, it automatically and intelligently processes internal and external data signals to help channel sales account managers work smarter, close more deals faster and continuously grow revenue.

Jay McBain - ChannelEyes

To develop the 20/20 Visionaries for 2016, the editors of ChannelPro-SMB turned an eye to the channel players and channel pros they have spoken with, listened to, and sat with face to face over the past year to compile a broad list of possible honorees. After much debate, the list of this year's visionaries emerged. Each year this process will be reprised, with honorees selected from many worthy channel candidates.

A complete list of the ChannelPro 20/20 Visionaries for 2016 appears in the May print edition of ChannelPro-SMB as well as on the ChannelPro Network website at http://www.channelpronetwork.com/article/introducing-2016-channelpro-2020-visionaries



About ChannelEyes Corporation:

Founded in 2011, ChannelEyes is a global software company that is reinventing how vendors drive partner sales and indirect channel and alliances growth. The SaaS platform includes ChannelCandy, the world's largest mobile-first product for partners, as well as OPTYX, the first indirect sales workflow product to help sellers with predictive analytics and leverage big data science to drive more sales. ChannelEyes has received numerous accolades for its technology including being named a Cool Vendor by Gartner and one of the fastest growing companies in New York's Capital Region by the Business Review. Learn more at: http://channeleyes.com/ and follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/ChannelEyes) and Facebook (facebook.com/ChannelEyes).


About the ChannelPro Network:

The ChannelPro SMB 20/20 Visionaries is part of the ChannelPro Network. Our network includes websites, events, awards programs, research, and the monthly magazine ChannelPro-SMB. The ChannelPro Network provides targeted business and technology information for IT channel partners who serve small and midsize businesses. The network delivers expert opinion, analysis, news, product reviews, and advice vital to a channel partner's business success. No other media company focuses on the small and midsize marketplace like The ChannelPro Network. ChannelProNetwork.com

My Nautical Story - Adventure on the High Seas

I am pretty sure the love of water started in 1972 when I was six weeks old and my grandparents Bob and Dona McBain retired to Shuswap, British Columbia, Canada, and built a log cabin:

Here I am with Grandpa Bob, my dad, Jim, and my sister, Tracey:

After the cabin was built, a portion of every summer of my life up until University was spent on the water - skiing, going on picnics, and swimming.

Water meant more to me than just fun and games though - it was a vehicle for adventure.

I can't think of a bigger adventure than Grandpa Bob rounding up his family in 1967, putting them in a 21 foot Starcraft aluminum cruiser and travelling from Lake Superior to Montreal for Expo '67. Across 2 Great Lakes, numerous rivers and canals, hundreds of locks, and thousands of miles of coastlines.

That is not only a ton of nautical miles, it was a trip of lifetime!

Fast forward 32 years and I was an IBM sales rep living in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The year was 1999, and the pre-Y2K buzz had everyone buying new computers to avoid the end of the world. With fat commission checks and an opportunity to move to Toronto, Ontario in early 2000, the time was right to make my first boat purchase.

I defied all levels of logic by choosing a super-fast, 15 foot dual-jet boat made by Seadoo. I bought it sight-unseen on a website that many people were just starting to hear about - eBay.

With a flat bottom and no props or rudders, these boats were made to do donuts at 55mph and send you careening across the lake like a rock skipping. Also, no protection from the sun, no functional windscreen, and an impeller that sucked in weeds at the south end of the notoriously weedy, Lake Simcoe.

Exactly what the family needed - with 2 young girls, Danica and Mila, aged 3 and 1, this was a failed experiment in so many ways! But fun, nonetheless.

I owned my first boat for less than 6 months. It was time for an upgrade - both in wind and sun protection as well as usability. Enter the 2000 Scorpion, a 16 foot bowrider with a Yamaha 60hp on the back.

Wonderful gas mileage, brand new mechanicals, and a way to start exploring the many lakes, rivers and canals that make up the Canadian Shield.

A month after buying the boat, the first major voyage was planned up and down the Trent Severn Canal. With a unique marine railway lock to flight locks, hydraulic lifts, 39 swing bridges and 160 dams, the 386km (240 miles) route was a major undertaking for our maiden voyage.

Some history on the canal:

Samuel Champlain was the first European to travel the network of inland waters from Georgian Bay to the Bay of Quinte with the Hurons in 1615. A route that would later be canalized and named the Trent–Severn Waterway. 

In the mid-19th century, the river systems of Central Ontario were used by lumber barons to easily transport newly felled trees to sawmills closer to market. Many of the logging companies opposed the building of locks, for these would interfere with their business interests. The logging companies did, however, help to create thriving communities such as Bobcaygeon and Fenelon Falls, all of which helped to delay the building of the lock system.

 

Countless miles were put on that little bowrider. The final trip was an amazing journey to Ottawa, Ontario, with the kids and my mom, Gloria McBain. Travelling up the historic Rideau Canal was one of my favorite memories. At 202km (126 miles), and 45 locks, it meanders from Kingston, Ontario to Ottawa.

History lesson:

The construction of the Rideau Canal was a preventive military measure undertaken after a report that during the War of 1812 the United States had intended to invade the British colony of Upper Canada via the St. Lawrence River, which would have severed the lifeline between Montreal and Kingston. The British built a number of other canals (Grenville, Chute-à-Blondeau and Carillon Canals, all along the Ottawa River) as well as a number of forts (Citadel Hill, La Citadelle, and Fort Henry) to impede and deter any future American invasions of Canadian territory.

In the summer of 2002, the little bowrider was upgraded to a functional 26 foot cruiser - a 1990 Bayliner 2651 Ciera. With 2 double beds, a bathroom, shower and kitchen - we were now in business!

The maiden voyage was up the Trent-Severn again to a town called Midland - in Georgian Bay. Several other trips were made up and down the Trent-Severn exploring Collingwood, Ontario in the Blue Mountains, down to Toronto, Montreal (via the Saint Lawrence Seaway), Rochester and numerous trips to Niagara Falls.

Life was definitely good - and the nautical miles kept piling up!

One of my favorite memories with the kids was our marina at Ontario Place. We were moored in the middle of a theme park and would wake up and go on the rides, eat, play, go boating, listen to an outdoor concert, and then sleep again!

Life was definitely good on the Bayliner.

In 2006, some strange things were happening with the Canadian dollar. The value was increasing rapidly and ended up (in 2007) hitting 10% more valuable than the US dollar.

Dreams of owning a serious cruiser went from flashes of fantasy to a reality in no time flat!

I started to look around and fell in love with the Carver Mariner 350. A yacht that was 39 feet all decked out with leather, big screen TV, 3 double beds, and the ability to carry 30 passengers.

I found the perfect boat in Cape Coral Florida, sitting on a lift behind a huge mansion. The person who sold it was a Realtor who bought numerous $10 million dollar estates and sold off the boats behind to put the money into new kitchens and landscaping.

The yacht brokerage was instructed to list them on boattrader.com and drop the price by $10K per week until it was sold. I thought I lost it when it hit a low number, but the other guys financing fell through and I was able to scoop it - with another $10K off because a week had passed.

The next challenge was to get the boat to Toronto from Florida. I decided to have it shipped to Atlantic City, where I would pick it up, navigate the ocean (or Intracoastal Waterway depending on weather), go through New York, up the Hudson to Albany, hang a left at Erie Canal and hit Lake Ontario via Oswego.

This is where the story takes a turn for the worse!

A major storm ripped through Upstate New York wiping out lock 10 on the Erie Canal. With no promise of re-opening in the 2006 season, we had to decide whether to:

a) Leave the boat in New York for the winter
b) Have it shipped from Albany to Toronto
c) Take the loooong way up the Champlain to Montreal and then down the Saint Lawrence to Lake Ontario

The sense of adventure kicked in and, not to be defeated, we set sail to Montreal.

The boat was named Lucky Deux, but was anything from lucky from that day forward!

Going up the Hudson, north of the Federal Troy Lock, we started to have mechanical issues with the boat taking on water through a broken front window seal, losing the fan belts and then clunking bottom in a narrow Montreal canal.

But that was nothing. Next up, Tornado.

Boating through the famous Thousand Islands was a pleasure and something every mariner should do once in their life.  As we entered Lake Ontario via Kingston, you have a choice to go inland across the first quarter of the lake or jet out of Prince Edward and go around the wonderful Sandbanks Provincial Park.

The challenge is that it puts you in the middle of this great lake and weather can turn on a dime. We were reaching the furthest point of the outlet when the VHF radio started crackling - severe storm alerts, mariner alerts, you name it.

In the middle of the afternoon, the sky turned dark black in the North and rain started pelting down.

The waves started kicking up to 5 and 6 foot levels with many of them crashing into the boat. I had about 30 miles to reach the nearest shore and 40 miles to the nearest town - Colborne, Ontario.

We were now taking on water at a pace where the 4 bilge pumps couldn't stay ahead of it. The boat, already at 20,000 pounds, was getting heavier by the minute. A normal cruising speed of 20 mph was now about 14 and we were not able to get on plane.

Knowing that 30 to 40 miles at 14 mph (through a major storm) would take us into the night was top of mind. Having the engines die in the middle of the lake had me on the verge of panic. As captain, your first priority is the safety of your crew - and I was going to get us to safety.

Hell or high water.

Or both.

The girls were troopers and we found out when we landed in the dark in Colborne that a tornado had ripped through town causing extensive damage. The old salts at the marina couldn't believe that the Lucky Deux was on the water and made it in safely.

After that day, I had a new appreciation for preparation and safety.

The Carver ended up getting 2 new engines, new props, shafts and just about every other replaceable part in the next few years. It became the worst investment sinkhole I had ever been a part of.

The memories did take a turn for the positive in 2009 when I moved to Raleigh, N.C. and transported the boat to be moored at New Bern. I had my own ocean-front condo!

I invited my new girlfriend Michelle Ragusa and her two dogs to the boat in later 2010 and it was there in New Bern that our story really started.  Read more about our story here.

Next up was another move to Albany, NY and another transport of the boat. Mooring the boat on the Hudson was a bit of a challenge. With $4 gas prices and a limited cruising range up and down the river we felt we were missing out on the wealth of cruising opportunities through Upstate New York, NYC, Boston, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

It was time to make a change - and downsize.

The memories and love I had for the Bayliner came flooding back. What if we had a boat that we could trailer to awesome locations and start to explore the Northeast with Baby Brooklyn?

So the decision was set - in 2014 we sold the Carver and purchased a 2008 Bayliner 245 Ciera. Almost the same boat as the old Bayliner 2651 that I had, only 18 years newer!

We are already considering some wonderful voyages in 2015:

a) The Castles of the Thousand Islands
b) The amazing cruising ground of the Long Island Sound
c) Boston down to Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and Rhode Island
d) Lake George, Lake Sacandaga, Lake Oneida, and the Finger Lakes

Follow our Bayliner Chronicles here.

We are starting on a series of new adventures now. And we can't wait.

What's further down the road?

The end goal, and major lifelong bucket list item is to sail the blue ocean. Upon retirement (or sooner) a trip from the Caribbean to the Rock of Gibraltar via the Atlantic Ocean will happen.

22 days of wide open spaces and no shores - a wonderful solitude of nature and a major adventure wrapped up into one.

Logistically, I will need to learn how to sail, get my captain's license and take every offshore course I can get my hands on. Unless advances in technology allow renewable power sources, we will be in the market for an ocean-worthy sailboat at some point.

I will continue to update this blog over time.

Channel Focus (Baptie) Webinar - 5 Future Channel Trends You Should Be Planning for Today

The pace of change in the indirect sales world has been mind-numbing over the past few years. There are new business models and partner types popping up seemingly every day - driven by technology, economic challenges and customer behavior.

Combine this with an unprecedented demographic shift coming in the next few years, and the job role of the Channel Professional will radically shift - both inside the organization and out.

We will explore what this demographic shift means, as well as predict what Channel Management will look like when there are more vendors in the world than partners.

Here is the full 45 minute webinar:




If you don't have the time, here are just the slides:

Future IT Channel and Alliances Trends from Jay McBain

The End Of The IT Channel As We Know It. (And the start of something amazing!)

While exploring the question of where are all of these so-called “Born in the Cloud” partners are coming from, a bigger and more complex issue surfaced. Perhaps the competition isn’t coming from “within” the channel but somewhere else?

When Marc Andreessen wrote “Why Software is Eating the World” in the Wall Street Journal 5 years ago, a major shift was taking place in every industry. Infrastructure was firmly in place and technology was finally at a maturity level to start disrupting every business, across every sector.

What Marc didn’t predict is that the center of gravity for these decisions would fundamentally shift into the business units. In those days, about 80% of technology decisions were researched and made in the IT department, today it is only 28%. In fact, Gartner predicts that it could be as low as 10% by 2020.

The BBC made quite a stir last year when it predicted that technology could replace most workers in the next couple of decades. “Will Machines Eventually Take Every Job” walked through numerous industry segments from truck drivers to farmers, from factory workers to service delivery, and from knowledge workers to professional services.

If you wrap these articles together the irony is deafening: 

Line of Business professionals are busy stitching together the very software stack that will one day replace them! 

I don’t subscribe to the armageddon-style predictions, but do believe it will have one of the most profound effects on society since the industrial revolution. Anyway, enough meandering.

The biggest threat to the IT Channel today (already 36% down since 2008) is not the cloud. Nor is it internet of things (IoT), consumerization, mobility, or a host of other emerging technologies. It is the changing dynamic in how customers decide and purchase IT.

The 72% of all technology decisions that are now being made (or highly influenced) outside of the IT department aren’t traditional IT decisions. The Finance person isn’t buying a router. The Marketing Executive is not implementing security protocols, the Sales leader isn’t buying new servers for the rack. They are stitching together a software stack that drives business value for their department.

This myopic view could grow to be dangerous as costs are accelerating, duplication is happening across the organization, holistic security is nearing impossible and interoperability is challenging with the permutations and combinations of disparate solutions. However, I don’t see power shifting back to the CIO anytime soon. In fact, a magazine focused on CIO’s was reporting a trend where they were being demoted out of the boardroom altogether.

In the late 90’s, as PC and other hardware margins were plummeting, the rallying cry for the channel was to verticalize. Find that industry niche where you could get deeper into the business issues and understand nuances such as regulations, legislation and industry solutions. By bundling consulting, software, and focused services, more profit and customer stickiness would result.

By the mid 00’s, managed services were all the rage where individual hardware, software and services could be creatively bundled and profit could be generated by remote access and economies of scale.

Fast forward to today and 90% of companies are leveraging the cloud. In fact, 60% of companies have replaced more than 1/3 of their IT infrastructure already (Gartner). Only about half of that was with the assistance of some type of channel.  Even worse, over 2/3 of the current IT channel report that cloud opportunities have outstripped their capacity.

Yes, you read that correctly - the current channel is beyond capacity (either under-skilled or over-worked) while only touching half of the opportunity.

I reported before my feelings that “verticalization” is being replaced by hyper-focused “vectorization”. The new line of business (LOB) power center is creating opportunities in very specific niches across 287 sub-industries, multiple segments, plethora of technologies and different geographies.

Traditional IT providers that have verticalized are being beat by firms (or individuals) that focus on the 5 vectors (LOB, sub-industry, segment, geography and technology). In many cases these aren’t “born in the cloud” companies, but industry or LOB focused consultants, service providers and independent contractors that have been forced into technology as the world has shifted that way.

-          Transportation logistics consultants are now selling end-to-end technology solutions.

-          Insurance compliance consultants are pitching big data and predictive analytics.

-          Healthcare advisors are now integrating EMR solutions with customer care technologies.

-          Oil and Gas consultants are leveraging technology to recommend hydraulic fracking and horizontal drilling to change breakeven economics.

-          And there are thousands of more examples.

The difficulty is that these new technology plays leverage very little of traditional IT hardware, software and services. Today's solution partners don’t have the relationships, experience, skills or capacity to engage at these levels.

Without these vector skills, IT providers are on the outside of these opportunities looking in. 

Traditional vendors are attempting to position themselves for this future. It has been painful to watch IBM shrink for 16 straight quarters, HP to split up, Dell to combine with EMC and go private, and Cisco to struggle in core areas. The top-line revenue for these companies will be significantly disrupted as the days of selling tons of big iron, monster software license deals and outsourcing are numbered.

For channel partners, it is important to recognize new battle areas for revenue growth and build, buy, partner, merge or acquire their way to success. Standing still is also ok in the short term as none of this will happen overnight.

Understanding the magnitude of vectors is mind-blowing – simple math is to multiply 287 sub-industries by 10 LOBs by 6 size segments by 20 technologies and hundreds of geographic areas (states, countries, regions, etc.) and you are dealing with 50+ million vectors.

We are nearing 100,000 SaaS vendors today and that number will continue to rise by an order of magnitude to capture the demand. I can see a world 20 years from now that over a million technology companies will compete across these 50 million vectors. Many of these companies will spawn from our current IT channel world-wide.

I do know that none of these technology companies will be happy swimming in their own lane for long. They will look at adjacent LOBs, nearby geographies, different sized customers or similar behaving industries for growth. They will also look for partners in those swim lanes where they can participate instead of reinventing the wheel each time.

Buckle your seatbelts.

Where are all of these so-called “Born in the Cloud” Partners Anyway?

This question was posed to me at the Ingram Cloud Summit this week in Phoenix. We all know that the cloud is quickly redefining IT, with over 90% of companies using some mix of public, private and hybrid cloud solutions. In fact, 60% of companies have replaced more than one third of their IT infrastructure with cloud products thus far (Gartner).

With 1,300 attendees at this cloud-focused conference, I asked the question: “How many of you are born in the cloud?” Only a couple of hands went up. The same result happened at CompTIA Annual Members Meeting last month.

With the cloud representing $204B in opportunity (Gartner), there must be some big-time winners right? 

Some are theorizing that cloud and “as a service” vendors are selling solutions direct to customer. The reality is that over 55% (and growing) of cloud sales are going through a channel (IDC).

Another theory is that traditional IT Channel Partners are not plugged into cloud demand at their customers. This is also untrue. CompTIA reports that 67% of channel firms are experiencing demand for cloud services that has outstripped their capacity. It could be a combination of technical capability and bandwidth – but they are seeing sufficient opportunities nonetheless.

I have heard some argue that “shadow” or “rogue” IT demand is being claimed by an unseen force. This is actually partially true. Half of traditional IT partners claim to have lost a sale to a non-traditional IT solution provider, such as a industry-specific consulting firm, vendor, distributor, or telecom carrier. This is happening with much more frequency than in previous years.

Here is my theory on “born in the cloud"

1. The biggest threat facing the traditional IT channel (36% decline in firms since 2008) has nothing to do with technology or transforming business models. It is the changing dynamic in how customers decide on IT. It almost sounds unbelievable, but 72% of all technology decisions are now being made (or highly influenced) outside of the IT department. Only 18 months ago I was blogging about the “Tipping Point” when 51% of decisions were outside of the CIO. In fact, Gartner is predicting that the number will grow to 90% by 2020.

2. Every company is being forced to become a technology company. Whether it is a car company with Tesla sneaking up, transportation company with Uber, hospitality company with AirBNB, or any other of the 27 industries, technological disruption is threatening traditional companies with extinction. This means that every ancillary service or consulting company supporting these industries is being forced into technology as well.

3. “Verticalization” is being replaced by hyper-focused “vectorization”. With 72% of decisions now being made by Executives in lines-of-business (LOB), specialization is diving deeper into sub-industry, geography, segment, technology and LOB. For example, traditional providers that may be specializing in a certain industry such as healthcare are losing to firms that hyper-specialize in lead generation marketing at mid-size, ambulatory care hospitals in New York State (5 vectors). The customer Executive likely doesn’t know (or care) about things like security, regulation, changing legislation, network capacity, backup, disaster recovery, uptime, support and dozens of other foundational skills the IT Channel would bring. They care about a business problem of generating more leads – and that is what born in the cloud firms are pitching. They are part of a marketing cloud ecosystem representing solutions such as Marketo, Pardot, Eloqua, Hubspot and hundreds of other software-as-a-service companies.

4. The Cloud is inherently unprofitable. The vast majority of cloud vendors are not making money (some of it by design). Even some of the cloud superstars such Salesforce and Amazon have only recently flirted with profitability. This doesn’t bode well for cloud resellers, looking to take a margin on these low-priced, recurring revenues. Successful born in the cloud firms have leveraged their hyper-specialization into rich consulting and service contracts. Last week, IBM bought one of these firms, Bluewolf, who specializes in Salesforce for over $200M. If you check Salesforce’s partner program, they have 695 of these type of partners generating $20B in services. This is over 3 times more revenue than Salesforce itself – and almost 10% of the world cloud opportunity ($204B) I mentioned above.

So if you are looking to meet and recruit some of these “born in the cloud” partners, your best bet is to skip the over 150 channel centric tradeshows world-wide this year. They simply aren’t in attendance. You will have better luck attending Salesforce Dreamforce, a Marketo event, or specific industry LOB conferences. While the IT and Telco Channel numbers are declining, this new generation of partners are exploding.

Interestingly enough, I have attended a number of these conferences in the past few years. The joke about well-dressed, skinny jeans wearing millennials making up this new generation of channel actually turns out to be true.

Their definition of break-fix is the Apple Genius Bar. 

Their definition of networking is finding a WiFi hotspot at Starbucks. 

Their definition of security is whatever the big guys like Amazon, Salesforce, Google, Microsoft and IBM are doing to protect their respective clouds.

However, if you want to know what the latest hacks are in nurturing marketing leads in mid-sized ambulatory care hospitals in Upstate New York – they will talk your ears off.

My Travel Story - How to be a world traveler while raising a family and working full-time

One of my most popular blogs ever was from 4 years ago, titled "100 Country Rollerblades and Red Bull Tour". It is the story of visiting every corner of the planet, fast & cheap, and the building a retirement plan around re-visiting favorite places for longer periods.

I talked about the Bucket List movie from 2007 with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman and the concept of waiting to retirement to really start living. Life tends to get in the way of living sometimes and families and careers take over most of our focus.

“We live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round.”

Since the movie, and the corresponding epiphany, I have been able to visit 65 countries on every continent except Antarctica. And yes, Antarctica is in the plans!

The goal of hitting 100 countries is what drives this crazy adventure.

There are no lack of challenges:

1. TIME - being a married father of 3 beautiful girls aged 17, 15 and 8 months, as well as a Co-Founder of a quickly growing company, ChannelEyes, doesn't leave much time to be a world traveller.

2. MONEY - You could spend a fortune on flights, hotels, visas, food and tourism - especially living in North America where every trip is a major transcontinental journey. Grouping countries into themed trips has been the answer.

3. ENERGY - Travel can be very stressful and draining, dealing with airports, ground transportation, logistics, foreign languages, currencies and tight itineraries.

4. THINGS BEYOND YOUR CONTROL - A quick read of the morning newspaper will show that the world is always in a state of change. For example, one of our honeymoon stops was Egypt to see the pyramids, the Nile & Luxor where King Tut's tomb is. The day we got married the protests turned deadly, and on our day of arrival, 54 people were killed in the main town square.

It turns out that attaining 100 countries is more difficult than first planned. The number itself wasn't anything more than a round number that was challenging and remarkable at the time.

After some research, I found a Travelers' Century Club, or TCC, that was founded in 1954 in California and has about 2,000 members. To be a member, you must have travelled to 100 or more of countries and territories in their Directory. The Club recognizes a much wider array of countries and Territories (324) than does the United Nations (193).

In terms of "sovereign" states, there are 206 listed in Wikipedia. Somewhere between this number and the United Nations number is where I fall - adding important places such as Taiwan, Kosovo and Vatican City.

It also makes for a nice round number - travel to 50% of the planet!

That's where it gets a bit more complicated. I downloaded all 200 countries and sorted them by land mass and population. In terms of targeting where to go next, I tend to look at size and global importance of the destination:

As you can see, targeting places like China, India and Indonesia help achieve the population numbers, while places like Russia, Australia and Argentina drive the land mass values.

So, while 65/200 countries traveled to already is 1/3 of the world; In terms of population I am at 69% and land mass 63%!

The most difficult part of getting to 100 countries is the perpetual state of war (civil or otherwise) and the geographic spread of small islands around the globe. At any one time, there is only about 100 safe, accessible and economically viable countries to travel to.

Today, the entire mideast is out of the question as well as the majority of Africa. The Northern shore of South America and most of Central America is also risky at the best of times.

So here it is, how I have traveled the world and going to hit 100 countries economically and with only a few weeks of vacation time per year:

(Assuming you live in North America which is harder than Europe)

1. North America (1972-80) - living in Canada and the United States, and travelling several times to Mexico allowed me to complete the continent (and a ton of land mass) early in life.

2. UK & France (1996)

3. Portugal & Spain driving tour (2002)

4. Bahamas, Cuba via vacations (2003-04)

Sub-total: 9 countries over my first 35 years.  

Queue the Bucket List...

Now, strap in...

5. Greece (2008) - including Athens, Mykonos and Santorini.

6. Driving tour across Europe starting in Germany, then circling through Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Poland & Czech Republic (2008)

7. China (2009) - including Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong & Macau.

8. Italy (2009) - trip with my mom.

9. South America tour - Argentina, Uruguay & Brazil - both Rio and Sao Paulo (2010)

10. Caribbean cruise - Haiti, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Cozumel (2010)

11. South Africa driving tour - Johannesburg, Cape Town, Lesotho, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique & Swaziland (2010)

12. Scandinavian tour - Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway & Finland (2011)

13. SE Asia tour - Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Philippines & Singapore (2011)

14. ex-USSR tour - Russia (both Moscow & St. Petersburg), Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania (2012)

15. Down-under driving tour - Australia & New Zealand (2012)

16. Honeymoon of a lifetime with Michelle! - Morocco, Egypt (Cairo & Luxor), Sri Lanka, India & Nepal (2013)

New Sub-total: 56 countries in just 6 years - making a total of 65 over my life.

Now the question is, how to go get those last 35 countries - safely and economically?

Trip plans & ideas:

- Japan, Taiwan and South Korea (March 2015)

- Second Europe driving tour - Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina & Croatia

- Antarctica, Ecuador, Chili, Peru, Paraguay & Bolivia

- Eastern Caribbean cruise - Dominican Republic, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St Lucia, Barbados, St Vincent, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago & Aruba.

- Eastern Africa - Uganda, Kenya & Tanzania

- Second SE Asia tour - Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar & Laos

Even though the Middle East and Africa have been in a constant state of turmoil for centuries, I do hope in my lifetime to see these countries.

The five most important tools I have found in planning these trips are:

1. Kayak.com
2. Hotels.com
3. Google Maps
4. Tripit
5. Microsoft Excel

I also enjoy getting DK Eyewitness Travel Guides, especially the Top 10 ones. With a good mix of pictures, backstory, organization and itinerary help, they have turned out to be invaluable.

The plan to sail later on will afford the opportunity to see new countries by water and check out new parts of these countries from port.

So, yes, it is possible to see the world while working full-time and raising a family. It is also possible to do without hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash laying around.

JayFM 2016 - My 82 Favorite Songs of All-time!

Music means something different to everyone who listens.  Like many people, I have pretty diverse interests across the years and genres. And it changes slightly from year to year - new music and finding old music that strikes a nerve.

However, my favorite music can be best defined as sad / emotional / multi-level slow music.  It could probably be labelled an eclectic mix of emo, sadcore and slowcore.   Oddly, it is opposite of my worldview - which is normally overly-positive and optimistic.

It is an interesting dichotomy, but perhaps makes sense.  A place where I can disengage, move to a different level, and explore things from a different perspective - almost spiritual.





So here is JayFM, my favorite 82 songs of all time IN ORDER:

(Public Playlist on YouTube can be found here - or click on each individually if you want to watch.)

1. Taylor Swift - Ronan
2. Christina Perri - Jar of Hearts
3. Tommy James - Crimson and Clover
4. Maria Mckee - Show Me Heaven
5. Cyndi Lauper - I'm Gonna Be Strong
6. Sinead O'Conner - Last Day of our Acquaintance
7. Juice Newton - The Sweetest Thing
8. Sarah McLachlan - Angel
9. Rankin Family - Fare Thee Well
10. Beyonce - Halo (Hope for Haiti)
11. Les Miserables - I Dreamed a Dream
12. Moulin Rouge - Come What May  
13. Cowboy Junkies - Misguided Angel 
14. Live - Lightning Crashes 

15. Miley Cyrus - Adore You

16. Melissa Etheridge - The Weakness in Me 
17. Bread - Everything I Own
18. John Legend - August Rush - Someday
19. The Pretenders - 2000 Miles
20. Katie Melua - If You Were A Sailboat

21. Adele - Someone Like You

22. Ze Frank - Chill-out
23. Great Big World, Christina Aguilera - Say Something
24. Juice Newton - Angel of the Morning
25. Evanescence - My Immortal   
26. Stryper - Honestly
27. Boyzone - No Matter What
28. Sarah Brightman - Pie Jesu
29. Ride - Lana Del Rey 
30. Amy Sky - I Will Take Care Of You 
31. Imagine Dragons - Demons
32. Bangles - Eternal Flame 
33. Wet Wet Wet - Love Is All Around
34. Pink- Family Portrait    
35. Starship - Nothing's Going to Stop Us Now
36. Guns N Roses - November Rain

37. Enya - Only One Time 

38. Bonnie Tyler - God Gave Love To You
39. Christina Perri - Arms

40. Stevie Nicks & Don Henley - Leather And Lace 

41. Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart

42. Take That - Rule the World

43. Pink - Just Give Me A Reason

44. Cyndi Lauper - That's What I Think
45. Joshua Kadison - Jesse
46. Whitney Houston - Didn't We Almost Have It All 
47. Chantal Kreviazuk - Before You

48. Judy Garland - Wizard of Oz - Somewhere Over The Rainbow

49. Andy Kim - Rock Me Gently

50. Celine Dion - Power Of Love  
51. The Judds - Love Is Alive 

52. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water

53. Celine Dion - Its All Coming Back To Me Now

54. TLC - Unpretty

55. Britney Spears - Everytime 
56. Coldplay - Fix You

57. Rihanna - Take a Bow

58. Justin Timberlake - Hallelujah (Hope for Haiti)
59. Mariah Carey - Hero
60. Roxette - It Must Have Been Love
61. Andrew Lloyd Weber - I Don't Know How to Love Him

62. Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up

63. Air Supply - Here I Am

64. Frankie Valli and The 4 Seasons - December 1963 (oh, What A Night)

65. Paula Abdul - Rush Rush
66. Don Henley - Heart of the Matter

67. Spice Girls - Two Become One

68. Bonnie Tyler - Loving You's a Dirty Job

69. Patrick Swayze - Dirty Dancing - She's Like The Wind

70. Shontelle - Impossible

71. Johnny Cash - Hurt

72. Dixie Chicks - Landslide

73. Train - Save Me San Francisco

74. Lou Gramm - Midnight Blue
75. Bette Midler - The Rose

76. Christina Perri - A Thousand Years

77. Miley Cyrus - Twinkle Song

78. Bruce Springsteen - We Take Care of our Own
79. Annie Lennox - Why
80. Rita MacNeil - Working Man
81. April Wine - Tonight is a Wonderful
82. Hanson - Weird

What is currently on my iPhone 6S Plus? 
Here is a more complete list of 650 songs on my iPhone right now - bringing in some more diversity.

4 Non Blondes - What's Up      
A Great Big World - Say Something      
ABBA - The Winner Takes It All    
Adam Lambert - If I Had You      
Adele - Don't You Remember (Live Acoustic)      
Adele - Hello          
Adele - Hiding My Heart        
Adele - One And Only        
Adele - Set Fire To The Rain      
Adele - Skyfall.m4a        
Adele - Someone Like You (Live Acoustic)      
Adele - Take It All        
Adele - Turning Tables (Live Acoustic)      
Adele - When We Were Young      
Air Supply - All Out Of Love    
Air Supply - Even The Nights Are Better    
Air Supply - Every Woman In The World    
Air Supply - Here I Am      
Air Supply - Lost In Love      
Air Supply - Making Love Out Of Nothing At  
Air Supply - One That You Love, The    
Air Supply - Sweet Dreams        
Alannah Myles - Lover Of Mine      
Alannah Myles - Song Instead Of A Kiss    
Alice Cooper - Poison        
All Saints - Never Ever        
All Saints - Pure Shores (The Beach Soundtrack)    
Amanda Marshall - If I Didn't Have You    
American Rejects - It Ends Tonight      
Amy Sky - I Will Take Care Of You    
Andrew Lloyd Webber - All I Ask Of You - Sarah Brigh
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Amigos Para Siempre (Friends F    
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Another Suitcase In Anther Hal    
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Any Dream Will Do    
Andrew Lloyd Webber - As If We Never Said Goodbye -  
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Don't Cry For Me Argentina - J  
Andrew Lloyd Webber - I Don't Know How To Love Him -
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Love Changes Everything - Mich    
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Memory - Elaine Paige    
Andrew Lloyd Webber - No Matter What - Boyzone    
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Oh What A Circus - David Essex  
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Pie Jesu - Sarah Brightman & P  
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Superstar - Murray Head    
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Take That Look Off Your Face -  
Andrew Lloyd Webber - The Music Of The Night - Micha  
Andrew Lloyd Webber - The Perfect Year - Dina Carrol  
Andrew Lloyd Webber - The Phantom Of The Opera - Sar  
Andrew Lloyd Webber - Whistle Down The Wind - Tina A  
Andrew Lloyd Webber - You Must Love Me - Madonna  
Andy Kim - Rock Me Gently      
Anne Murray - You Needed Me.wma      
Annie - Tomorrow        
Annie Lennox - Why        
April Wine - Tonight is a Wonderful      
Asia - Heat Of The Moment      
Atlantic Starr - Always        
August Rush - August's Rhapsody        
August Rush - Elgar - Something Inside      
August Rush - God Bless The Child      
August Rush - I Pray        
August Rush - La Bamba        
August Rush - Moondance        
August Rush - Someday        
August Rush - This Time        
Avril Lavigne - Don't Tell Me      
Avril Lavigne - Fall To Pieces      
Avril Lavigne - I'm With You      
Avril Lavigne - Nobodys Home      
B.o.B. Ft. Hayley Williams & Eminem - Airplanes    
Bad English - When I See You Smile    
Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas    
Bangles - Eternal Flame        
Bangles - I'll Set You Free      
Bangles - In Your Room      
Bangles - Manic Monday        
Bangles - Where Were You When I Needed You    
Barry Manilow - I Write The Songs    
Beach Boys - California Girls      
Beach Boys - Kokomo        
Beastie Boys - No Sleep Till Brooklyn - Licensed To Ill - 08
Beastie Boys - Paul Revere - Licensed To Ill - 09  
Beastie Boys - Rhymin & Stealin - Licensed To Ill - 01
Beatles - Across the Universe        
Beatles - Hello, goodbye        
Beatles - Hey Jude        
Beatles - Let It be        
Belinda Carlisle - Heaven Is A Place On Earth  
Belinda Carlisle - I Get Weak      
Belinda Carlisle - Mad About You      
Ben E. King - Stand By Me.wma    
Berlin - Take My Breath Away      
Bette Midler - From a Distance      
Bette Midler - Rose, The        
Bette Midler - Wind Beneath My Wings    
Beyonce - Best Thing I Never Had    
Beyonce - If I Were A Boy    
Big Country - In A Big Country    
Bill Medley & Jennifer Warner - I've Had the Time of my Life
Billy Joel - Just The Way You Are    
Billy Joel - Piano Man        
Blondie - Maria        
Blondie - The Tide Is High      
Bon Jovi - (You Want To) Make A Memory    
Bon Jovi - ALWAYS        
Bon Jovi - BED OF ROSES      
Bon Jovi - NEVER SAY GOODBYE      
Bon Jovi - Thank You For Loving Me    
Boney M - Mary's Boy Child-Oh My Lord    
Bonnie Raitt - I Can't Make You Love Me    
Bonnie Raitt - Something To Talk About    
Bonnie Tyler - Don't Turn Around      
Bonnie Tyler - God Gave Love To You    
Bonnie Tyler - Holding out for a Hero ( Footloose Soundtrack )
Bonnie Tyler - It's a Heartache      
Bonnie Tyler - Loving You Is A Dirty Job But Somebody's Gotta Do It
Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse Of The Heart    
Boston - More Than A Feeling      
Bran Van 3000 - Drinking In L.A.    
Bread - I Would Give Everything I Own    
Breathe - Hands To Heaven      
Britney Spears - Everytime        
Britney Spears - Im Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman  
Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run      
Bruce Springsteen - Secret Garden      
Bruce Springsteen - We Take Care Of Our Own    
Bruno Mars - Just the Way You Are    
Bryan Adams - (everything_i_do)_i_do_it_for_you        
Bryan Adams - all_for_love        
Bryan Adams - Christmas Time      
Bryan Adams - Everything I Do I Do It For You
Bryan Adams - heaven        
Bryan Adams - lets_make_a_night_to_remember        
Bryan Adams - straight_from_the_heart        
Capital Cities - Safe and Sound      
Carl Anderson & Gloria Loring - Friends & Lovers  
Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe      
Carly Simon - You're So Vain      
Carpenters - Superstar        
CCR - Bad Moon Rising        
Celine Dion - All By Myself      
Celine Dion - Because You Loved Me    
Celine Dion - If You Asked Me To    
Celine Dion - My Heart Will Go On    
Celine Dion - Power Of Love      
Celine Dion - To Love You More    
Celine Dion - Where Does My Heart Beat Now  
Chantal Kreviazuk - Before You        
Chantal Kreviazuk - Far Away        
Chantal Kreviazuk - Feels Like Home      
Chantal Kreviazuk - God Made Me      
Chantal Kreviazuk - In My Life (Providence Theme)    
Chantal Kreviazuk - Leaving On A Jet Plane    
Chantal Kreviazuk - Surrounded        
Chantal Kreviazuk - There Are Places I Remember    
Chantal Kreviazuk - This Year        
Chantal Kreviazuk - Time        
Chantal Kreviazuk - Wait for me      
Chantal Kreviazuk - Wild Horses (Live)      
Charli XCX - Boom Clap        
Cheap Trick - The Flame      
Cher - After All        
Cher - Heart of Stone        
Cher - If I Could Turn Back Time    
Cher - Just Like Jesse James      
Cher Lloyd - Want U Back      
Chicago - Hard Habit To Break      
Chicago - Hard To Say Im Sorry    
Chicago - You're The Inspiration      
Chilliwack - My Girl        
Chillout - ZeFrank        
Chris De Burgh - The Lady In Red    
Christina Aguilera - Beautiful        
Christina Perri - A Thousand Years      
Christina Perri - Arms        
Christina Perri - Distance        
Christina Perri - Human        
Christina Perri - Jar Of Hearts      
Cinderella - Don't Know What You Got Til It's Gone  
Colbie Caillat - Bubbly        
Colbie Caillat - Fallin' For You      
Colbie Caillat - I Never Told You      
Colbie Caillat - Realize        
Coldplay - Fix You (Album Version)      
Cowboy Junkies - Misguided Angel      
Cranberries - Linger        
Cranberries - Zombie          
Crash Parallel - World We Knew
Crash Test Dummies - At My Funeral      
Crash Test Dummies - Superman's Song      
Creed - Higher          
Creed - With arms wide open      
Cutting Crew - (I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight  
Cyndi Lauper - All Through The Night    
Cyndi Lauper - Change Of Heart      
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want To Have Fun  
Cyndi Lauper - I'm Gonna Be Strong      
Cyndi Lauper - That's What I Think      
Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time      
Cyndi Lauper - TRUE Colors      
Danny Wilson - Mary's Prayer        
Daughtry - Home          
Debbie Gibson - Lost In Your Eyes    
Debbie Gibson - Out Of The Blue      
Default - All she wrote        
Demi Lovato - Give Your Heart a Break    
Dido - Thank You        
Dionne Warwick (With Elton John, Gladys Knight And Stevie Wonder) - That's What Friends Are For
Dixie Chicks - Cowboy Take Me Away      
Dixie Chicks - Landslide        
Dixie Chicks - Travelin' Soldier        
Don Henley - Forgiveness        
Don Henley - The Last Worthless Evening      
Dont Let The Sun Go Down On Me (Live)    
Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud      
Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do    
Elton John - Can You Feel The Love Tonight    
Elton John - Candle In The Wind (Live)    
Elton John - Daniel (Live)        
Elton John - Dont Let The Sun Go Down On Me (Live)
Elton John - Rocket Man (Live)      
Elton John - Sacrifice        
Elton John - Your Song        
Elvis Presley - can't help falling in love    
Elvis Presley - Love Me Tender      
Eminem - Not Afraid        
Eminem Ft. Rihanna - Love The Way You Lie    
Enrique Iglesias - Hero        
Enya - Only Time        
Enya - Orinoco Flow (Sail Away)      
Eric Carmen - Hungry Eyes      
Eric Clapton - Tears in heaven      
Eric Clapton - Wonderful Tonight        
Europe - Carrie        
Europe - The Final Countdown      
Evanescence - My Immortal        
Extreme - More Than Words      
Faith Hill - Breathe        
Faith Hill - There You'll Be      
Faith Hill - This Kiss        
Feeder - Feeling A Moment      
Fergie - Clumsy          
Fergie - Fergilicious          
Fergie - London Bridge        
Firehouse - Love of a Lifetime      
Firehouse - When I Look Into Your Eyes    
Fleetwood Mac - Everywhere        
Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way    
Florida Georgia Line- Cruise        
Foreigner - I Wanna Know What Love Is    
Foreigner - Waiting For A Girl Like You    
Frankie Valli and The 4 Seasons - Can't Take My Eyes Off You
Frankie Valli and The 4 Seasons - December 1963 (oh, What A Night)
Frankie Valli and The 4 Seasons - My Eyes Adored You  
fun. - Carry On        
fun. - Some Nights        
fun. ft. Janelle Monae - We Are Young    
Garth Brooks - Friends In Low Places      
Garth Brooks - That Summer        
Garth Brooks - The Dance        
Gary Jules - Mad World      
George Michael - One more try      
Glenn Medeiros - Nothings Gonna Change My Love    
Gloria Estefan - Always Tomorrow        
Gloria Estefan - Anything For You      
Gloria Estefan - Can't Stay Away From You    
Gloria Estefan - Coming Out Of The Dark    
Gloria Estefan - Don't Wanna Lose You      
Gloria Estefan - Words Get In The Way    
Go-Go's - Head Over Heels      
Go-Go's - Our Lips Are Sealed      
Go-Go's - Vacation        
Go-Go's - We Got The Beat      
Goo Goo Dolls - Give A Little Bit    
Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know (feat. Kimbra)  
Guns N Roses - November Rain      
Guns N Roses - Paradise City      
Guns N' Roses - Patience      
Guns N Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine    
Gwen Stefani featuring Akon - The Sweet Escape    
Hanson - Mmmbopp          
Hanson - Weird          
Heart - All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You  
Heart - Alone        
Heart - These Dreams        
Hillsong United - Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)    
Honeymoon Suite - What Does It Take      
Hoobastank - The Reason        
Hootie & The Blowfish - Goodbye      
Hootie & The Blowfish - Hold My Hand    
Hootie & The Blowfish - Let Her Cry    
Hope for Haiti - Breathless.m4a        
Hope for Haiti - Halo.m4a        
Hope for Haiti - I'll Stand By You (feat. the Root.m4a  
Hope for Haiti - Lean On Me.m4a      
Hope for Haiti - Let It Be (feat. the Roots).m4a  
Hope for Haiti - Like a Prayer.m4a      
Hope for Haiti - Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour) [Versi.m4a    
Hope for Haiti - We Shall Overcome.m4a      
Howie Day - You and I Collide      
Hozier - Take Me To Church      
Human League - Dont You Want Me Baby    
Hunter Hayes - Wanted        
I am Sam - Across the universe - Rufus Wainright  
I am Sam - Don't let me down - Stereophonics  
I am Sam - Let it be - Nick Cave  
I am Sam - Mother Nature's Son - Sheryl Crow  
I am Sam - Nowhere Man - Paul Westerberg-    
I am Sam - Two of us - Aimee mann  
I am Sam - We can work it out - Heather Nova
I am Sam - You've Got to Hide Your Love Away - Eddie Ve
Idina Menzel - Let it Go      
Imagine Dragons - Demons        
Imagine Dragons - It's Time        
Ingrid Michaelson - Girls Chase Boys      
INXS - Never Tear Us Apart      
Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up      
Jay-Z + Alicia Keys - Empire State Of Mind  
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah        
Jennifer Warnes - Right Time of the Night    
Joe Cocker - You Are So Beautiful      
Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes - Up Where We Belong  
John Denver - Take Me Home, Country Roads    
John Farnham - You're The Voice      
John Legend - All Of Me      
John Lennon - Imagine        
John Mayer - Daughters        
John Mayer - Your Body Is a Wonderland    
John McDermott - Amazing Grace        
John McDermott - America The Beautiful      
John McDermott - Auld Lang Syne      
John McDermott - Battle Hymn Of The Republic    
John McDermott - Danny Boy        
John McDermott - Waltzing Matilda        
John McDermott - Willy McBride        
John Waite - Missing You        
Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues      
Johnny Cash - Hurt        
Johnny Cash - I Walk The Line      
Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire      
Johnny Logan - Hold Me Now      
Jon Bon Jovi - BLAZE OF GLORY      
Jon Bon Jovi - BLOOD MONEY      
Jon Bon Jovi - DYING        
Jon Bon Jovi - MIRACLE        
Jon Bon Jovi - SANTA FE      
Josh Groban - Oh Holy Night (Christmas)    
Josh Groban - You Raise Me Up      
Joshua Kadison - Jesse        
Jostein Hasselg†rd - I'm not afraid to move on  
Journey - Don't Stop Believin'      
Journey - Open Arms        
Judy Garland-Over The Rainbow        
Juice Newton - Angel of the Morning      
Juice Newton - The Sweetest Thing      
Katie Melua - If You Were A Sailboat    
Katy Perry - Roar        
K-Ci & Jojo - All My Life    
Ke$ha - Take It Off        
Kelly Clarkson - Already Gone        
Kelly Clarkson - Because Of You      
Kid Rock - Only God Knows Why    
Kid Rock Feat. Sheryl Crow - Picture    
Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes      
Kiss - Beth          
Lady Antebellum - Need You Now      
Lady Antebellum - Our Kind of Love      
Lady Gaga - Alejandro        
Lana Del Rey - Blue Jeans.m4a      
Lana Del Rey - Ride.m4a        
Leann Rimes - How Do I Live      
Leann Rimes - Looking Through Your Eyes      
Lee Brice - Love Like Crazy      
Leona Lewis - Bleeding love      
Les Miserables - Bring Him Home      
Les Miserables - Castle On A Cloud      
Les Miserables - Come To Me      
Les Miserables - Do You Hear The People Sing_    
Les Miserables - Drink With Me      
Les Miserables - Empty Chairs At Empty Tables    
Les Miserables - Finale        
Les Miserables - Heart Full Of Love      
Les Miserables - I Dreamed A Dream      
Les Miserables - Little Fall Of Rain      
Les Miserables - On My Own      
Les Miserables - One Day More      
Les Miserables - Red And Black      
Les Miserables - Stars        
Lifehouse - You And Me      
Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville - Don't Know Much  
Lionel Richie - Hello        
Live - Lightning Crashes        
Lonestar - Amazed        
Lorde - Royals          
Lorde - Team          
Lorde - Tennis Court        
Lou Gramm - Midnight Blue        
Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World      
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - Same Love (feat. Mary Lambert)  
Madonna - Crazy for You        
Madonna - This Used To Be My Playground    
MAGIC! - Rude          
Marc Cohn - Walking in Memphis      
Maria Mckee - Show me heaven      
Mariah Carey - Hero        
Mariah Carey - I'll Be There      
Mariah Carey & Luther Vandross - Endless Love    
Marillion - Lavender        
Martika - Toy Soldiers        
Martina McBride - Concrete Angel      
Mathew Wilder - Break My Stride      
Matt Nathanson - Laid        
MC Hammer - 2 Legit 2 Quit    
MC Hammer - Have You Seen Her      
MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This      
Meat Loaf - Heaven Can Wait      
Meat Loaf - I'd Do Anything For Love    
Meat Loaf - Paradise By The Dashboard Light    
Meat Loaf - Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad    
Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass      
Melissa Etheridge - The Weakness in Me    
Men Without Hats - Safety Dance      
MIA - Paper Planes
Michael Bolton - Said I Loved You... But I Lied  
Michael Jackson - Heal The World      
Michael Jackson - I Just Can't Stop Loving You    
Michael Jackson - Man In The Mirror      
Michael Jackson - You Are Not Alone    
Michael W. Smith - I Will Be Here For You  
Michael W. Smith - Place in this World    
Miley Cyrus - Adore You        
Miley Cyrus - The Climb      
Miley Cyrus - Twinkle Song        
Miley Cyrus - We Can't Stop      
Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball        
Milli Vanilli - Baby Don't Forget My Number    
Milli Vanilli - Blame It On The Rain    
Milli Vanilli - Girl You Know It's TRUE (Maxi Version-Super Club Mix)
Milli Vanilli - I'm Gonna Miss You      
Motley Crue - Time For Change      
Motley Crue - Without_You        
Moulin Rouge - Come What May - Nicole Kidman Ewan Mcgregor  
Moxy Fruvous - The Drinking Song      
Mr Big - To Be With You    
Mr Big - Wild World      
Mr. Mister - Broken Wings      
Mumford & Sons - I will wait    
Natalie Cole - Miss You Like Crazy      
Natalie Imbruglia - Torn        
Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten        
Nazareth - Love Hurts        
New Kids On The Block - Summertime      
Nilsson - Without You        
Northern Lights - Tears Are Not Enough    
Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks    
Oleta Adams - Get Here      
Olivia Newton John - I Honestly Love You    
Omi - Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix)      
One Direction - Best Song Ever      
One Direction - Story Of My Life      
One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful      
OneRepublic - Secrets          
Otis Redding - When A Man Loves A Woman (Oldies)  
O-Town - All Or Nothing      
Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time    
Pandora's Box - It's All Coming Back To Me Now  
Paramore - The Only Exception        
Passenger - Let Her Go      
Patrick Swayze - She's Like The Wind      
Patti Smith - Because the Night      
Paul Carrack - Don't Shed A Tear    
Paul McCartney - Yesterday        
Paul Young - Oh Girl        
Paul Young - Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home).wma
Paula Abdul - Blowing Kisses In The Wind    
Paula Abdul - Rush Rush      
Peabo Bryson - If Ever You're In My Arms Again  
Peabo Bryson & Roberta Flack - Tonight I Celebrate My Love

Pet Shop Boys - Being Boring      
Peter Cetera - Glory of Love      
Phil Collins - Against all Odds      
Phil Collins - One More Night      
Phillip Phillips - Gone, Gone, Gone      
Phillip Phillips - Home        
Phillip Phillips - Raging Fire        
Pink - Glitter In The Air      
Pink - Just Give Me A Reason feat. Nate Ruess  
Pink- Blow Me (One Last Kiss)      
Pink- Family Portrait          
Poison - Every Rose Has Its Thorns      
Poison - Something To Believe In      
Pretenders - 2000 Miles        
Pretenders - Brass In Pocket (I'm Special)    
Pretenders-I'll Stand By You        
Puff Daddy and Faith Evans - Ill Be Missing You  
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody        
Queen - We Are The Champions      
R.E.M. - Everybody Hurts        
Rachel Platten - Fight Song        
Rankin Family - Fare Thee Well      
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Zephyr Song      
Rent Soundtrack - Seasons of Love (from the Movie)    
REO Speedwagon - Can't Fight This Feeling    
REO Speedwagon - Keep On Loving You    
REO Speedwagon - Take It on the Run    
Richard Marx - Angelia        
Richard Marx - Right Here Waiting For You    
Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin Feeling    
Rihanna - Four Five Seconds        
Rihanna - Stay (feat. Mikky Ekko)      
Rihanna - Take A Bow        
Robbie Williams - Angels        
Roxette - Fading Like A Flower-(Every Time You Leave)  
Roxette - It Must Have Been Love      
Roxette - Listen To Your Heart      
Roxette - Spending My Time      
Run DMC - Can You Rock It Like This    
Run DMC - It's Tricky        
Run DMC - My Adidas        
Saigon Kick - Love Is On The Way    
Sam Cooke - Wonderful World        
Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One    
Sam Smith - Stay With Me      
Sara Bareilles - Brave        
Sara Bareilles - I Choose You      
Sarah Brightman - Pie Jesu        
Sarah McLachlan - Angel        
Savage - Only You        
Savage Garden - I Knew I Loved You    
Scorpions - Send Me an Angel      
Scorpions - Still Loving You      
Scorpions - WIND OF CHANGE        
Seal - Crazy        
Sean Kingston - Take You There      
Selena Gomez & The Scene - Round And Round    
Serena Ryder - Weak In the Knees      
Shakespeare's Sister - Stay        
Shania Twain - Forever And For Always    
Shania Twain - From This Moment On      
Shania Twain - I'm Holdin' On To Love (To Save My Life)
Shania Twain - Party For Two (with Mark McGrath)    
Shania Twain - The Woman In Me (Needs The Man In You)
Shania Twain - Youre Still The One    
Sheriff - When I'm With You      
Shontelle - Impossible          
Simon & Garfunkel - America        
Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (Live)  
Simon & Garfunkel - Cecilia        
Simon & Garfunkel - Homeward Bound (Live)      
Simon & Garfunkel - The Sound Of Silence (Live)    
Simply Red - Come To My Aid      
Simply Red - If You Don't Know Me By Now  
Sin‚ad O'connor - Black Boys On Mopeds      
Sin‚ad O'connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got  
Sin‚ad O'connor - Nothing Compares 2 U      
Sin‚ad O'connor - The Emperor's New Clothes      
Sin‚ad O'connor - The Last Day Of Our Acquaintance    
Sin‚ad O'connor - Three Babies        
Sin‚ad O'connor - You Cause As Much Sorrow    
Sonny & Cher - I Got You Babe    
Spice Girls - Two Become One      
Spice Girls - Viva Forever      
Starship - Nothing's Going to Stop Us Now    
Starship - We Built This City      
Steve Perry - Oh Sherry      
Stevie Nicks & Don Henley - Leather And Lace    
Stevie Wonder - I Just Called To Say I Love You
Stryper - Honestly        
Styx - Come Sail Away        
Take That - Back For Good.wma      
Take That - Rule The World      
Taylor Dayne - I'll Always Love You    
Taylor Dayne - Love Will Lead You Back    
Taylor Swift - Blank Space      
Taylor Swift - Mine        
Taylor Swift - Ronan        
Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me    
Taylor Swift feat Ed Sheeran - Everything Has Changed  
Terry Jacks - Seasons In the Sun    
The All-American Rejects - Gives You Hell    
The Beloved - Sweet Harmony      
The Calling - Wherever You Will Go    
The Carpenters - Close To You      
The Cars - Drive        
The Fray-You Found Me        
The Jeff Healey Band - While My Guitar Gently Weeps  
The Judds - Change Of Heart      
The Judds - Grandpa (Tell Me 'Bout The Good Old Days)  
The Judds - John Deere Tractor      
The Judds - Love Is Alive      
The Judds - Mama He's Crazy      
The Killers - All These Things That I've Done    
The Killers - When You Were Young      
The Lumineers - Ho Hey      
The Police - Every Breath You Take    
The Pretenders-I'll Stand By You        
The Pussycat Dolls-I Hate This Part      
The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody      
The Tokens - Lion Sleeps Tonight      
The Tragically Hip - Ahead By A Century    
The Tragically Hip - Bobcaygeon        
The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony      
The Wanted - Glad You Came      
Tiffany - All This Time      
Tiffany - Could've Been        
Tiffany - I Think We're Alone Now    
Tina Turner - The Best      
TLC - Unpretty        
Tommy James - Crimson and Clover      
Tony Braxton - Un-Break my heart      
Toto - Africa          
Toto - I'll Be Over You      
Toto - Rosanna        
Tove Lo - Stay High        
T'Pau - China in Your Hand      
Tracy Chapman - Baby Can I Hold You    
Tracy Chapman - Fast Car        
Train - Drive By        
Train - Marry Me        
Train - Save Me San Francisco      
Turtles - So Happy Together        
U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm    
U2 - One        
U2 - The Streets Have No Name
U2 - With Or Without You      
UB40 - Every_breath_you_take          
UB40 - I Got You Babe      
Uncle Kracker - Follow me      
Uncle Kracker - Smile        
Vanessa Williams - Save The Best For Last    
Vanessa Williams & Brian Mcknight - Love Is    
Vaya Con Dios - What Will Come Of This    
Walk The Moon - Shut up and Dance    
Warrant - Heaven          
Wendy Moten - Come In Out Of The Rain    
Westlife - Mandy          
Westlife - My Love        
Wet Wet Wet - Love Is All Around    
White Lion - Wait        
Whitesnake - Here I Go Again On My Own  
Whitney Houston - Didn't We Almost Have It All    
Whitney Houston - Greatest Love Of All      
Whitney Houston - I Know Him So Well    
Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You    
Whitney Houston - One Moment In Time      
Whitney Houston - Saving All My Love for You  
Whitney Houston - Where Do Broken Hearts Go    
Whitney Houston - You Give Good Love    
Wilson Phillips - You're In Love      
Wiz Khalifa Feat. Charlie Puth - See You Again    
Zedd - Clarity (feat. Foxes)        

So there it is...

The great thing about music is that it is a moving target.  I will come back here time and again to update new songs that have had an impact.

Thanks for listening.