Sometimes when I go out and talk about the ideas in AWNM, I have time do some exercises with the audience. Â And one of my new favorites is the six-word memoir,which helps demonstrate and hone the power of story.
The idea comes from the endlessly entertaining book, Not Quite What I Was Expecting, in which people famous and not write their autobiographies in just six words.  For example, Stephen Colbert’s six-word memoir is “Well, I thought it was funny.” Another: “Found true love, married someone else.”Â
 There were several gems ones at the business conference I attended today.  Here are a few of my favorites (all penned by people who had about five minutes to think and write.) Â
The forward-thinking civic officials of Oak Park, Illinois, who gave us the ingenious emotionally intelligent stop signs have been stymied by the jack-booted thugs of the state transportation department. National Public Radio’s Morning Edition has the story. (HT:  Jamie Baker)Â
 A few days ago, Cuba’s reformist (sic) new leader, Raul Castro, announced that the government would let its citizens purchase personal computers.  On the left (no pun intended), Cubans gaze in wonder at the new-fangled technology.
“My name is Julie Ouedraogo and I currently attend the University of Maryland Baltimore County as a Media & Communications major. I read A Whole New Mind for one of my classes and was required to produce a new media artifact. As a tribute to this eye opening book, I decided to harness my left and right brain skills to write and perform a song which I posted on youtube that can be found below.”
With the price of precious metals soaring, and with discarded consumer electronics embedded with these valuables piling up in junkyards, Cryptogon heralds the rise of – get this — the Sanford and Son Economy. Â
Entrepreneur is out with its annual Hot 100 – the magazine’s list of the fastest-growing businesses in America.  Who’s #1 this year?  It’s Simply Self Storage.
Garr Reynolds, author of one of the year’s hottest and most valuable business books, Presentation Zen,has put together a very cool slide presentation that summarizes Johnny Bunko.