Yesterday, our fearless leader John Sweeney quite literally took one for the team. While giving a speech to more than 400 people at the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation leadership event, a 12-inch steel knife chose to embed itself in Sweeney’s arm. For years, our team has performed the unique art of knife throwing to innovatively recap Sweeney's keynote speaking and training points without a hitch. Not so much yesterday. Immediately after understanding his new relationship with said knife, Sweeney excused himself from the stage while Caleb McEwen finished the event. 17 minutes later, a pair of Canadian paramedics removed the knife from his arm and transported him to the hospital to receive several stitches. On the way, Sweeney was quoted as saying, "Perhaps there is a better way to illustrate innovation that doesn't include knives?" For all those who witnessed the knife drama, thank you for your concern! Sweeney is absolutely fine, "physically speaking" (we all know he has never been completely fine in the head). He is back at home, at work, and already keyed up to discover the next big idea. We would like to thank all of those health care providers who assisted him and sent him on his way. Although he was impressed with the effectiveness of the Canadian health care system, it would be impossible for us not to somehow take a shot at our neighbor's to the North. So, we've started a pool for guessing the cost of his Canadian health care experience. If you’d like to join in the pool, please comment with a US dollar amount and we’ll cut you in! Winner gets two tickets to our holiday show!
Feel free to view Sweeney’s follow-up to event attendees at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cdbXb2HDJY
And this is what it looks like: