I agreed to tape the pilot episode of America’s Greenest Game Show “Truth or Inconvenient Consequences” at the Scottsdale Festival of the Wise on Saturday. I needed a venue. I needed the motivation to get it done and I relished the challenge of creating old school entertainment, for outdoor consumption without benefit of electricity or computer presentation tools.

I assembled 3 games based on 60s vintage Truth or Consequences, The Price is Right, and a combination of three categories of Jeopardy(What’s my Power Line, Who Do You Trust and You Bet Your Life) AND a session of College Bowl. Using a great book, “I’ll take Learning for 500” I managed to craft an hours worth of content, that the very sparse audience not only seemed to enjoy, but actually picked up on the underlying message.

More importantly, here’s what I learned. Many of the presenters and vendors were VERY disappointed and somewhat angry at the lack of event attendance. I, on the other hand, had no illusions, expectations or even concern about the size of the crowd. I had a story to tell constricted by a set of parameters that forced me to draw on a different set of tools than I am accustomed to and research a topic that I have long wanted to pursue. This mental exercise alone would be reason to celebrate but then, last night, I caught a scene from Pollyanna where the Reverend is preparing his sermon by talking to the trees. And I realized that whether we’re writing a book, publishing a blog or recording a video for web-tv our real value is in our work, our thoughts and our deeds no matter how many people are paying attention.

So, in the words of my late very wise father who spent alot of time listening to the sounds of fallen trees in the forest, “Do right. Do it. DO IT RIGHT! because that’s really all there is.”