Hello Ken,

I'm Bob Lang - the World of Watches guy. Nick Lecy at Luggage Pros forwarded your excellent summation of Ken Giddens to me.

Yes, Ken was truly a remarkable individual - the real deal in all the ways that matter. After we sold World of Watches (WOW for short) I helped to connect Ken with 3 other on-line retail wannabes. He created successes all three times. His success ratio in this regard is amazing. Yes, Ken was technically excellent and brilliantly creative. But his main contribution came in the role of Professor Giddens. Every discussion, debate and argument (yea, we argued - never meanly) was a learning experience for me. I feel like I earned a Ph. D. from the Ken Giddens University of Internet Success.

Unlike a lot of smart guys Ken always kept himself open to learning. He was never shy to admit he had been wrong. That's why he was able to continue his mastery of the internet from the earliest days.

I first met Ken at a seminar in Boulder in March 1998. Perhaps you were there? I went with one goal in mind - to find a guru. WOW had been online for 15 months and we (I had 2 partners) were pleased with the results. But I felt we could do better. Our webmaster at the time would blanch every time I wanted to talk about Search Engine placement. So in Boulder I went to the opening cocktail hour and just walked the room listening to conversations. People were clustered in small groups. Discussion in most of the groups centered around 2 or 3 loud people (it was the cocktail hour) who were making expansive gestures, talking about all the money they made last month and generally patting themselves on the back. Not close to what I was looking for. Then I saw a group of 5 or 6 people huddled in a corner of the room. As I approached, the group seemed silent. I wondered what was going on. Then I realized there was one guy talking; the others were listening intently. When there was an opportunity I introduced myself to Ken Giddens and started a friendship that I won't ever forget.

I invited Ken to dinner and in 5 minutes knew I had found someone qualified to help us take WOW to the next level. The question was - could I convince this smart guy to work for us? Well Ken was always approachable and a month later we worked out a deal. Ken not only helped us get to the next level, but 2 or 3 levels beyond.

Ken, I could easily go into the details of some of the astounding results this man produced. But to anyone who knew Ken well or worked with him, that isn't necessary.

You wrote "Original, creative, honest, and generous to a fault" and were 100% correct in that assessment. I would add one more core trait - grace. Grace is one of those words whose meaning I know but would be hard pressed to define. Here are 3 definitions of "grace" from dictionary.com.

1. Seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement, form, or proportion.

2. A characteristic or quality pleasing for its charm or refinement.

3. A sense of fitness or propriety.

Sounds like Ken Giddens to me.

Please feel free to forward my comments if you wish.

Best regards,
Bob Lang