Why is it Always an Art Project?

I'm getting ready this morning to go to speak at the Region 2000 Wired Wednesday luncheon. As those of playing along at home know, I've done a bunch of speaking engagements over the last year or two. Can somebody tell me why they always turn out to be art projects?

I usually start out with a good idea. For today, it was "tell the folks about risk management and process risk management in particular. Give them something to make their businesses better."

So I put together the presentation. But that is never enough, for some reason. You also need business cards, and handouts, and flyers, and --- well you get the picture. It seems that no matter how simple the topic, at the end I'm always sitting at the dining room table, laminating or binding, or cutting and pasting some kind of material into some new kind of material. Last night it was business cards and take home "quick lists". One time it was these really cool rolodex brochures. Then there was the time that I did a full color set of miniature slides that fitted on a keychain....

Ok. Ok. So perhaps it is me. I guess the anal-retentive side of me always tries to do everything to extreme. I'm the only guy I know who has frequent flier miles on his laminating machine. And I've got at least six different versions of my business cards.

I never liked all of that creative stuff when I was in kindergarten. Looks like I should have been paying more attention. I've got to go now. I was thinking that I could make a serious origami boat out of folded tri-color graphs.