The Association Innovation Blog by Jeff De Cagna

The tragedy of Katrina

I am putting up this post from Sydney, Australia, where it is approaching 6 pm on September 1.  I'm here attending and speaking at a conference, yet all of the talk is about the tragedy of Katrina.  Everyone asks me about it, some have asked if I have family in the area (I do not), and the universal reaction to the ensuing conversation is the long face and sad head shake accompanying the abiding sense of incredulity we all feel over what has happened.

There are simply no words available to adequately express our pain.  How is it possible that such a cruel fate could befall innocent people?  My heart is aching as I watch wall-to-wall coverage on CNN International, as well as foreign media outlets. It is especially difficult to watch interviews with hurricane victims who are utterly disconsolate over missing loved ones.  As despair overwhelms them, they openly sob, as do the reporters interviewing them.  Each of us in our own way is weeping over the random and desperately senseless destruction that Mother Nature has unleashed upon us.

Even as the people of New Orleans and the entire Gulf Coast begin the long and arduous process of rebuilding their shattered lives, we know that, in the end, they will prevail over this tragedy.  It is simply not in the American experience to do otherwise and we will pull together as a nation and as a people to ensure their ultimate success and renaissance.  In the meantime, we share with them our love and our strength as they work hard to make it through the difficult days ahead.

Hockey's back...

This doesn't have anything to do with either associations or innovation, but I'm simply ECSTATIC about the return of the NHL.  I'm really looking forward to being aggravated, irritated and frustrated by another abyssmal season of New York Rangers hockey.  It's going to be great...let's go Rangers!

By the way, I have added a Rangers-related poll to the blog.  Please cast your vote today!

London 07-07-05

Yesterday, we had yet another tragic and painful reminder of just how precious life is.  It is hard to look at the images of bloodied and battered Londoners sitting on sidewalks with dazed looks on their faces and not be moved to tears.  Of course, for all of us, yesterday's attacks bring to front of mind the excruciatingly difficult memories of September 11, 2001.  And once again, we have been forced to confront the presence of pure evil in our world, in the most unforgiving and horrific way possible.

Last Sunday, my wife and I saw the movie, War of the Worlds. For me, it was not an enjoyable viewing experience, because various scenes replicated some of the worst visuals of 9-11...ash-covered people running for their lives, the heartbreaking photos and signs with impassioned pleas for help in locating missing loved ones, the wreckage of airliners strewn everywhere.  I emerged from the theater with my feelings--feelings I thought I had put down years ago--sitting right at the surface. It was hard to keep it together.

But what happened yesterday was not a movie.  What happened yesterday was as incomprehensible as it was barbaric.  The human race is suffering today, filled with the sharp pain of lost and shattered lives.  Of course, we must be resilient in the face of threat, and we will be.  But today and for the next few days, our hearts will be breaking because of these acts of senseless destruction.

To our friends in London, stay strong.  We are with you.