Author: Bob Burdon

Motivational quote to share

I have framed and hanging on my office wall a quote from a speech delivered by Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne in Paris on April 23, 1910. The speech was called ” Citizenship in a Republic”. This quote, which is an excerpt from that speech, also applies to those of us in business. Here it is:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt, April 23, 1910

What I do in my leisure time

All work and no play does not make for a productive and successful life. So, I make sure to take time away from work for my family and myself. Now that I am retired it is even more easier to do and say!

Bob Burdon
Leisure activities

When younger, my leisure activities include surfing when growing up in Hawaii. As I got older and perhaps wiser, I left that sport but kept the wonderful memories. I also did a lot of snow skiing in California, Colorado, and throughout New England. 

Horseback riding and hiking are always relaxing. It offers a wonderful time to experience and appreciate nature and the importance of maintaining the quality of our natural environment. A favorite leisure activity is deep-sea game fishing. There is nothing like fishing in the Gulf Stream off the Florida coast with a can of beer and the company of my brothers. Using sunscreen is a must. 

I started general aviation flying when I was a teenager and still enjoy it to this day. I have my private, commercial, instrument, and instructor ratings.

I enjoy traveling. My daughter and her family live overseas in Europe, so my wife and I visit them often. Over the years, we’ve spent time in Switzerland, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Greece, and Cyrus.

If anyone is looking for me on a summer weekend, they will most likely find me at the beach enjoying a good book under a beach umbrella, swimming, and walking along the sand. That is the ideal and most relaxing leisure time activity I enjoy.

I’m also a life-longer learner, an avid reader, and voluminous consumer of general and business news.

My business journey highlights

Bob Burdon photo
Bob Burdon, blog author

My business journey began in print news media. I published weekly and daily newspapers in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. I also published weekly business journals in Washington D.C., Baltimore Maryland, and Jacksonville Florida. During my 17 years in the news media industry, I also started-up a couple of newspapers and branched out into broadcast journalism. I provided television and radio business commentary for an NBC affiliate in Baltimore, hosted Comcast Maryland Business Beat that aired during the local break on CNN Headline News, and radio stations in the Washington D.C and Baltimore, Maryland markets.

Later in my business journey, I was approached with the opportunity to lead a business trade organization in Maryland, where I merged two business organizations to become the largest chamber of commerce in Maryland. In that role for over 21 years, I became one of several leading advocates for the business community. I also helped small and mid-sized businesses navigate through two difficult economic periods; the 2000 Dotcom recession and the Great Recession of 2008/2009. Throughout this time, I continued to provide business commentary on television and radio, as well as write a monthly business column for Capital Gazette newspapers that served Maryland’s state capitol of Annapolis.