29 June 2008
27 June 2008
"Good, Loving and Hopeful"
It figures that after two weeks of radio silence over here, it's Tracy that gets me motivated.
Two brief notes in my defense. One, I'm hoping to make a big change shortly, and that hasn't been able to happen yet. Two, I've been busy with things. Insanely busy with wonderful things. However, is either of those a decent excuse? Of course not! So I'll write like a mad thing to make up for it.
But in the meantime... Tracy.
Whose blog you already know and love for her amazing, intellectual, visceral, funny look at life. (Her life being twice as cool as anyone else's, with her combination of career, gifted child, crazy husband, extreme sports, but oh yes, also fiendishly complicated by an eight-years-running grudge match with Stage IV cancer.)
But now, you can also see Tracy on NPR, as part of the My Cancer community's photo gallery. She's picture 5. Looking, of course, like a badass, and making the extremely good point that for her - and in a smaller way, for all of us - what we have good in our life is OUR choice. Bad things can happen to us - but we never lose the power to bring in the good things.
A pretty strong concept. Unsurprising, given the source.
So anyway, that's the fast news. Stay tuned for long-promised changes and stories of journeys in social media evangelism, slogs through the legal morass toward newly minted home ownership, and other thrilling adventures.
But in the meantime - go lookit Tracy.
Two brief notes in my defense. One, I'm hoping to make a big change shortly, and that hasn't been able to happen yet. Two, I've been busy with things. Insanely busy with wonderful things. However, is either of those a decent excuse? Of course not! So I'll write like a mad thing to make up for it.
But in the meantime... Tracy.
Whose blog you already know and love for her amazing, intellectual, visceral, funny look at life. (Her life being twice as cool as anyone else's, with her combination of career, gifted child, crazy husband, extreme sports, but oh yes, also fiendishly complicated by an eight-years-running grudge match with Stage IV cancer.)
But now, you can also see Tracy on NPR, as part of the My Cancer community's photo gallery. She's picture 5. Looking, of course, like a badass, and making the extremely good point that for her - and in a smaller way, for all of us - what we have good in our life is OUR choice. Bad things can happen to us - but we never lose the power to bring in the good things.
A pretty strong concept. Unsurprising, given the source.
So anyway, that's the fast news. Stay tuned for long-promised changes and stories of journeys in social media evangelism, slogs through the legal morass toward newly minted home ownership, and other thrilling adventures.
But in the meantime - go lookit Tracy.
23 June 2008
Gerunds
For the last week, I've been moving, hiking, boxing, sparring, flying, baking, researching, budgeting, shopping, pitching, crying, theorizing. Work is busy, the home purchase is ongoing, and The Summer of Outdoor Weekends is going swimmingly. (A wine festival, two 5Ks, and two state parks in the last six weeks.)
The thing is, busy and outdoorsy are neither particularly conducive to blogging. So, in apology, I offer two videos (and three Matts).
The first, more just plain silly, is James Blunt on "Top Gear." He can drive a tank and he put his sister on eBay: what's not to love? And on the best show ever. Of course it's good: Matt was the one who told me I'd love it. Matt, who passed his check ride
And the second, more seriously and truly wonderful, "Where the Hell Is Matt"'s latest installment. As I said to Peter, this is the kind of thing that makes me love that I live at this point in history. That's a melodramatic sort of thing to say, but I do mean it. To be able to see that people are people all the world over, and you don't need a common language or nationality to connect. Joy is joy, whatever end of the planet you're on. And to see someone get that - share that - teach that - bring people together for that - is pretty fantastic.
(If you're keeping count, my third Matt is to ask Matt whether this might be good for your class, somehow? It's just so cool that I want it to fit.)
The thing is, busy and outdoorsy are neither particularly conducive to blogging. So, in apology, I offer two videos (and three Matts).
The first, more just plain silly, is James Blunt on "Top Gear." He can drive a tank and he put his sister on eBay: what's not to love? And on the best show ever. Of course it's good: Matt was the one who told me I'd love it. Matt, who passed his check ride
And the second, more seriously and truly wonderful, "Where the Hell Is Matt"'s latest installment. As I said to Peter, this is the kind of thing that makes me love that I live at this point in history. That's a melodramatic sort of thing to say, but I do mean it. To be able to see that people are people all the world over, and you don't need a common language or nationality to connect. Joy is joy, whatever end of the planet you're on. And to see someone get that - share that - teach that - bring people together for that - is pretty fantastic.
(If you're keeping count, my third Matt is to ask Matt whether this might be good for your class, somehow? It's just so cool that I want it to fit.)
13 June 2008
Father's Day
He's spending this weekend moving out of one house and into another, poor man.
Happy Father's Day to my wonderful dad.
Happy Father's Day to my wonderful dad.
The Girly Trifecta
I've been in love with Leona Lewis since December 2006, and "Bleeding Love" is finally blowing up over here.
Sara Bareilles has had my heart since Bill played her for me in September 2007 - and now "Love Song" is all over Radio One.
But since my top two Sirius stations are the US and UK pop stations, my girls crisscrossing the Atlantic means it's getting a little samey.
And I heard my third favorite girl just this morning, so the writing's on the wall.
(So who's the latest love of your life?)
Sara Bareilles has had my heart since Bill played her for me in September 2007 - and now "Love Song" is all over Radio One.
But since my top two Sirius stations are the US and UK pop stations, my girls crisscrossing the Atlantic means it's getting a little samey.
And I heard my third favorite girl just this morning, so the writing's on the wall.
(So who's the latest love of your life?)
11 June 2008
Speaking Up: As Patients, As Consumers
(via FDANews -> Pharmalot -> Pharma Marketing Blog)
When a patient has a bad reaction to a prescription drug, that's an adverse event (AE). Those should be reported to the FDA, and healthcare professionals are required to - not only doctors and nurses, but pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies.
New data (2006, but newly published) shows that the number of AE's reported by the consumers themselves has surpassed the number reported by doctors.
FDANews suggests it's because people are more aware of drug-safety issues (after highly publicized problems with drugs like Avandia and Vioxx). Ed and John seem to agree. They also both point out that while the other rates of increase are pretty steady, the rate of consumer reports is pretty much skyrocketing. And John notes that the FDA, post-Vioxx, made it a lot easier for people to submit AE's online.
I'm sure news about adverse events makes people more alert to the possibility that they could have a bad reaction to their medicine - and I think the ease of reporting helps a lot - but I actually think it's bigger than both of those.
John points out that pharmaceutical companies don't seem to be submitting a lot more AE reports, despite the fear that Web 2.0 outreach efforts would cause patients to tell them about AE's and require a lot of expensive, time-consuming new reporting procedures to be put into place. It doesn't seem to be the case. And that fits my theory. We're getting smarter. We know that the company probaby won't be our fastest solution there.
My thought is, Web 2.0 has made us all a lot more personally responsible for our lives as consumers. Whether it's looking up restaurants, comparing shoes, checking out vacation destinations, researching the condition you've just been diagnosed with - we find out what experts and peers and strangers have to say. Just about everybody does it now, and just about nobody did a decade ago.
If you went to the doctor in 1998, would you have rushed off to the library on your way home to yank out the Merck Manual? But now, there's WebMD, there's Medline, there's even Wikipedia.
That we have this ability (and that it's only getting easier) shifts our mindset completely. We are far less likely to accept things, far more likely to know when something happens that we shouldn't accept, and far more able to take action when it does.
Personal accountability. Just another benefit of Web 2.0.
When a patient has a bad reaction to a prescription drug, that's an adverse event (AE). Those should be reported to the FDA, and healthcare professionals are required to - not only doctors and nurses, but pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies.
New data (2006, but newly published) shows that the number of AE's reported by the consumers themselves has surpassed the number reported by doctors.
FDANews suggests it's because people are more aware of drug-safety issues (after highly publicized problems with drugs like Avandia and Vioxx). Ed and John seem to agree. They also both point out that while the other rates of increase are pretty steady, the rate of consumer reports is pretty much skyrocketing. And John notes that the FDA, post-Vioxx, made it a lot easier for people to submit AE's online.
I'm sure news about adverse events makes people more alert to the possibility that they could have a bad reaction to their medicine - and I think the ease of reporting helps a lot - but I actually think it's bigger than both of those.
John points out that pharmaceutical companies don't seem to be submitting a lot more AE reports, despite the fear that Web 2.0 outreach efforts would cause patients to tell them about AE's and require a lot of expensive, time-consuming new reporting procedures to be put into place. It doesn't seem to be the case. And that fits my theory. We're getting smarter. We know that the company probaby won't be our fastest solution there.
My thought is, Web 2.0 has made us all a lot more personally responsible for our lives as consumers. Whether it's looking up restaurants, comparing shoes, checking out vacation destinations, researching the condition you've just been diagnosed with - we find out what experts and peers and strangers have to say. Just about everybody does it now, and just about nobody did a decade ago.
If you went to the doctor in 1998, would you have rushed off to the library on your way home to yank out the Merck Manual? But now, there's WebMD, there's Medline, there's even Wikipedia.
That we have this ability (and that it's only getting easier) shifts our mindset completely. We are far less likely to accept things, far more likely to know when something happens that we shouldn't accept, and far more able to take action when it does.
Personal accountability. Just another benefit of Web 2.0.
10 June 2008
On Bruises
Yesterday's hacking cough has been replaced by today's raspy voice. Between that and my mockery of "heat closings" (In my day schools didn't have air conditioning! You went in your neighbor's pool after school! And then you slept on the floor! You didn’t have air conditioning! Or your own pool! Uphill! Both ways!) I sound like a leathery retiree in Palm Beach. (Except it’s hot there, too, so no thanks.) So it's nice to type instead of talk.
. . .
I post professional stuff a lot, and I like that. (Incidentally, I heard a commercial this morning in which they compared working at Wawa to social networking. I died a small, quiet, geeky death.) I'm very proud of what I do in that vein, but that doesn't change that this still is a personal space. It's a weird balancing act to maintain, but one I think is worth doing.
All of which to say, beware, personal post ahead.
. . .
“Not the pain of this but its unfairness was what dazed Peter. It made him quite helpless. He could only stare horrified. Every child is affected thus the first time he is treated unfairly. All he thinks he has a right to when he comes to you to be yours is fairness. After you have been unfair to him he will love you again, but he will never afterwards be quite the same boy. No one ever gets over the first unfairness; no one except Peter. He often met it, but he always forgot it.” - Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie
I have awfully high expectations. Of life. Of myself. Of other people. So you’d think I’d be accustomed to unending disappointment, not least in myself. But, like Peter Pan, I never seem to remember. (Peter had the excuse of being a fairy tale. What’s mine?)
Since I am only friends, conveniently, with amazing people (they’d agree), it’s easy to believe in them, think better of them, expect more of them. But I’ve had a few disappointments lately of both sorts - letting someone down, and the other way round.
They’re learning experiences. Or would be, except I don’t seem to learn a thing. And maybe it's the stubbornness in me, but truly, I think I’d rather not. Why not expect the world? It might not feel great when you get proven wrong, but isn't it worth it for the rest of the time?
. . .
However, in other and more important places, stories that are not mine to tell, and situations that I can’t imagine being in, are being gone through right now by people who don’t deserve a bit of it about and about whom I care tremendously. If you pray, if you believe in karma – heck, if you believe in fairies – say a few words, clap your hands, do whatever you do to send some good vibes out into the universe for them. Please.
. . .
So, this week is working hard to change what I can – my attitude, if nothing more is within my power. (And, more prosaically, to get out of my car. 500 miles this weekend was a bit extreme.) So far, it’s going swimmingly. Yesterday I had a fantastic lunch with the splendidly fun and smart new pharmaceutical reporter for PRWeek, and had an equally fantastic workout last night. My right toe is now an interesting shade of purple. (From tae kwon do, not lunch.)
And every time I wiggle it I remember that bruises are at least a sure sign that you’re moving. Maybe you did do something dumb to deserve them, but more likely it was just an accident.
So. Don't be afraid to move – and think some good thoughts while you’re at it - and try not to focus on the bruises you get along the way. Not a bad goal for my day today.
. . .
I post professional stuff a lot, and I like that. (Incidentally, I heard a commercial this morning in which they compared working at Wawa to social networking. I died a small, quiet, geeky death.) I'm very proud of what I do in that vein, but that doesn't change that this still is a personal space. It's a weird balancing act to maintain, but one I think is worth doing.
All of which to say, beware, personal post ahead.
. . .
“Not the pain of this but its unfairness was what dazed Peter. It made him quite helpless. He could only stare horrified. Every child is affected thus the first time he is treated unfairly. All he thinks he has a right to when he comes to you to be yours is fairness. After you have been unfair to him he will love you again, but he will never afterwards be quite the same boy. No one ever gets over the first unfairness; no one except Peter. He often met it, but he always forgot it.” - Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie
I have awfully high expectations. Of life. Of myself. Of other people. So you’d think I’d be accustomed to unending disappointment, not least in myself. But, like Peter Pan, I never seem to remember. (Peter had the excuse of being a fairy tale. What’s mine?)
Since I am only friends, conveniently, with amazing people (they’d agree), it’s easy to believe in them, think better of them, expect more of them. But I’ve had a few disappointments lately of both sorts - letting someone down, and the other way round.
They’re learning experiences. Or would be, except I don’t seem to learn a thing. And maybe it's the stubbornness in me, but truly, I think I’d rather not. Why not expect the world? It might not feel great when you get proven wrong, but isn't it worth it for the rest of the time?
. . .
However, in other and more important places, stories that are not mine to tell, and situations that I can’t imagine being in, are being gone through right now by people who don’t deserve a bit of it about and about whom I care tremendously. If you pray, if you believe in karma – heck, if you believe in fairies – say a few words, clap your hands, do whatever you do to send some good vibes out into the universe for them. Please.
. . .
So, this week is working hard to change what I can – my attitude, if nothing more is within my power. (And, more prosaically, to get out of my car. 500 miles this weekend was a bit extreme.) So far, it’s going swimmingly. Yesterday I had a fantastic lunch with the splendidly fun and smart new pharmaceutical reporter for PRWeek, and had an equally fantastic workout last night. My right toe is now an interesting shade of purple. (From tae kwon do, not lunch.)
And every time I wiggle it I remember that bruises are at least a sure sign that you’re moving. Maybe you did do something dumb to deserve them, but more likely it was just an accident.
So. Don't be afraid to move – and think some good thoughts while you’re at it - and try not to focus on the bruises you get along the way. Not a bad goal for my day today.
08 June 2008
Weekly Roundup: Filthy Gorgeous
More cleaning out of the del.icio.us, two categories this time:
Kitcheny
And a reminder: for getting back into yourself, sweat and endorphins help. Filthy feels gorgeous. And I am definitely filthy.
Lastly and very, very importantly, a stunningly happy birthday to Sac. Filthy/gorgeous indeed. I know you had a wonderful day.
Kitcheny
- The Perfect Pantry
- The Cook's Thesaurus
- Pea soup from a Fug Girl
- Something to do with spaghetti squash
- Cookies for a cause
- Pretty
And a reminder: for getting back into yourself, sweat and endorphins help. Filthy feels gorgeous. And I am definitely filthy.
Lastly and very, very importantly, a stunningly happy birthday to Sac. Filthy/gorgeous indeed. I know you had a wonderful day.
06 June 2008
Social Media Is for Gi-irls
I was talking to Doug earlier this week about how one of the reasons why I'm loving social media is that I'm not always the only girl in the room anymore. (A situation usually marked by that *blink* when a guy realizes that you somehow have two X chromosomes AND a working understanding of technology.)
And now Colleen has just written about how women are all over the relationship-driven aspect of social media. (And Gary has vlogged with a very important reminder about how all of your relationships are worth valuing. Quality, not quantity.)
Anyway, I love that people I think are amazing are all talking about this. My socnets aren't mostly female, but that because that's the way I am in regular life. I don't think the exact balance is key - the thing is that there IS balance.
And my main follow-on thought from Colleen's article is, I wonder if the power of social media is going to be the final straw that breaks the glass ceiling. Who knows, right?
It doesn't matter how old you get, girl power is still nice. (*In a Ladies Who Launch kind of way, not in a Sex and the City kind of way.)
And now Colleen has just written about how women are all over the relationship-driven aspect of social media. (And Gary has vlogged with a very important reminder about how all of your relationships are worth valuing. Quality, not quantity.)
Anyway, I love that people I think are amazing are all talking about this. My socnets aren't mostly female, but that because that's the way I am in regular life. I don't think the exact balance is key - the thing is that there IS balance.
And my main follow-on thought from Colleen's article is, I wonder if the power of social media is going to be the final straw that breaks the glass ceiling. Who knows, right?
It doesn't matter how old you get, girl power is still nice. (*In a Ladies Who Launch kind of way, not in a Sex and the City kind of way.)
04 June 2008
Sad = Fat?
Happy people might have an easier job being thinner, according to a new UCSF study that links increases in serotonin to decreases in fat storage.
Either good news - or heaping insult upon injury - depending upon your situation.
It just makes sense, though. Health is a spiral. If you're treating yourself right and doing good things, it makes it easier to do more of the same, making yourself happier, nicer to be around.... But if you're sacked out on your couch eating Extra Value Meals and rotting your brain in front of the TV, it makes it that much easier to make another bad choice, and another, and another.
Inertia ain't the first Law of Motion for nothing.
On that note, I'm going to go run. (And increase my serotonin.)
Either good news - or heaping insult upon injury - depending upon your situation.
It just makes sense, though. Health is a spiral. If you're treating yourself right and doing good things, it makes it easier to do more of the same, making yourself happier, nicer to be around.... But if you're sacked out on your couch eating Extra Value Meals and rotting your brain in front of the TV, it makes it that much easier to make another bad choice, and another, and another.
Inertia ain't the first Law of Motion for nothing.
On that note, I'm going to go run. (And increase my serotonin.)
Post Number Nine Hundred
Well, damn.
When I started this, I never thought I'd have 900 things to write about. (And perhaps some of you think I haven't, ha ha.)
Then, I was desperately trying to figure out the transition from college - what I wanted to do with my life, how I fit into my professional and personal spheres, how they fit me. All I knew was that I wanted to write about it all while I did it.
Six years later, I'm delighted with where I am, both personally and professionally, but - of course - still trying to figure out how the world fits me, and how I fit it. Less desperation, thankfully, but just as much curiosity.
And this place has changed to match.
I can offer useful commentary on my profession - public relations, the pharmaceutical industry, social media, and how they all fit together.
(However, I still like pop music, silly links, pretty things, and shiny bits of technology. Some things won't ever change.)
Thank you for reading. Sincerely. It's an honor to know that you think I'm worth the time. And while it's always a nice place to air out my opinions, it's ever so much better when it's a conversation.
So I'll try to make sure this stays worth its place in your RSS reader. And don't worry. I'll keep talking in the meantime.
With love and appreciation.
When I started this, I never thought I'd have 900 things to write about. (And perhaps some of you think I haven't, ha ha.)
Then, I was desperately trying to figure out the transition from college - what I wanted to do with my life, how I fit into my professional and personal spheres, how they fit me. All I knew was that I wanted to write about it all while I did it.
Six years later, I'm delighted with where I am, both personally and professionally, but - of course - still trying to figure out how the world fits me, and how I fit it. Less desperation, thankfully, but just as much curiosity.
And this place has changed to match.
I can offer useful commentary on my profession - public relations, the pharmaceutical industry, social media, and how they all fit together.
(However, I still like pop music, silly links, pretty things, and shiny bits of technology. Some things won't ever change.)
Thank you for reading. Sincerely. It's an honor to know that you think I'm worth the time. And while it's always a nice place to air out my opinions, it's ever so much better when it's a conversation.
So I'll try to make sure this stays worth its place in your RSS reader. And don't worry. I'll keep talking in the meantime.
With love and appreciation.
02 June 2008
01 June 2008
Weekly Roundup: Milestone Week Edition
The first week of June brings me good things. High school graduation - 12 years ago Wednesday. The start of my blog - 6 years ago Saturday. My current job - 5 years ago tomorrow. And birthdays of five lovely people - Matt, Kristin, Sac, Derek and Melissa. How much goodness can you fit into one week, you ask?
All kinds of goodness, clearly. And already for this week I've got lovely stories to tell. Oh, and I've got Plans. With a capital P. So stay tuned.
In the meantime... some beautiful things.
All kinds of goodness, clearly. And already for this week I've got lovely stories to tell. Oh, and I've got Plans. With a capital P. So stay tuned.
In the meantime... some beautiful things.
- I'm dreaming of my next runaway.
- Tara Parker-Pope (how often do I link to her? I love me some TPP) on cooking at home
- Tim Ferriss on wintering like old money
- Mitchell York on professional speaking and actually being good at it
- Great examples of new-media art, including Eric Nordenankar's utterly amazing biggest drawing in the world (via Ze Frank)
- Kid Koala (if you can ever go see him perform, do.)
- Patti Digh (You should know by now she will come up when I speak of beautiful things. I collect her posts like vacation postcards. But I think she knows.) on love and loss and being your best and learning and dreaming and seeing what matters... and seeing what matters... and seeing what matters... and seeing what matters. On commitment (one that I needed very much when she wrote it). And on making friends (in which I realize only now from the photos that she delivered Yaron practically to my doorstep).
- Janine Payer's Brielle necklace
- Lisa Lindblad's job
- Botkier bags
- A coin to flip
- This t-shirt
- This one even more
- Beer cupcakes
- When famous people (like Wonkette's Amanda Chapel and Techneuroti's Joel Postman) start following me on Twitter (and I haven't followed them)
- Acronyms and shorthand for SMS and Twitter
- Social media buzzwords
- Lifehacker on managing your online reputation
- Chris Brogan on the value proposition of social media and what a “social media expert” ought to be able to tell you
- WebWare’s best Web 2.0 applications of 2008
29 May 2008
I Think It's Stress
Personal Development, Canine-Style
(via Nan - and it led me to a great site and some good music.)
This was perfect to read right now. I'm tired and sick and all I want to do is loll around in the grass barefoot next to somebody who's going to lick my hand and maybe run with me later.
Nothing's really wrong - there's lots of wonderful stuff going on, and the only truly bad things in my life are worries about a few of my friends and the very real problems they're dealing with.
Me, I don't have anything that a nap in the sunshine couldn't handle.
T, I think I'm borrowing Murphy and Judah next weekend.
(via Nan - and it led me to a great site and some good music.)
This was perfect to read right now. I'm tired and sick and all I want to do is loll around in the grass barefoot next to somebody who's going to lick my hand and maybe run with me later.
Nothing's really wrong - there's lots of wonderful stuff going on, and the only truly bad things in my life are worries about a few of my friends and the very real problems they're dealing with.
Me, I don't have anything that a nap in the sunshine couldn't handle.
T, I think I'm borrowing Murphy and Judah next weekend.
28 May 2008
Healthcare Beat Reporters on Social Media
A survey released this morning asked a variety of beat reporters to rank blogs and social media news sources that they valued most highly. I’m looking forward to reading a copy of the full results, but in the meantime, an article with this pull quote about healthcare reporters is interesting (although they seem to be conflating web sites and social media):
The "big four" health sites followed by health care journalists were NIH, WebMD, Mayo Clinic and MSN Health. All of the remaining top 10 sites tested were far less likely to be followed regularly (or at all!) by health care journalists. For health reporters, views on credibility largely mirrored their active engagement. NIH and Mayo were, by far, viewed as the most credible of all sources of health care information, followed by WebMD and MSN Health.
Alongside the article, you can see some graphs on what each beat think of social media. While healthcare reporters didn’t like what it was doing for accuracy or quality in their field, they did like what it was doing for tone, editorial direction and diversity. And either way, they're all very much immersed in it, spending extensive time reading, commenting and writing.
A cool snapshot of how social media are changing journalism from the inside, as well as from the outside.
The "big four" health sites followed by health care journalists were NIH, WebMD, Mayo Clinic and MSN Health. All of the remaining top 10 sites tested were far less likely to be followed regularly (or at all!) by health care journalists. For health reporters, views on credibility largely mirrored their active engagement. NIH and Mayo were, by far, viewed as the most credible of all sources of health care information, followed by WebMD and MSN Health.
Alongside the article, you can see some graphs on what each beat think of social media. While healthcare reporters didn’t like what it was doing for accuracy or quality in their field, they did like what it was doing for tone, editorial direction and diversity. And either way, they're all very much immersed in it, spending extensive time reading, commenting and writing.
A cool snapshot of how social media are changing journalism from the inside, as well as from the outside.
27 May 2008
Happy Summer: Soundtrack Edition
I don't think I've ever linked to a Myspace music profile, but I'm completely in love with a song El just sent me.
(It's from a Brooklyn reggae kid, it's on the French dance charts - it's weird, of course I like it!)
But really - go listen to Nicco's Destination and tell me you're not ready for summer.
(It's from a Brooklyn reggae kid, it's on the French dance charts - it's weird, of course I like it!)
But really - go listen to Nicco's Destination and tell me you're not ready for summer.
Post-Conference Wrap-Up
Plenty of people have been writing about ESM, probably better than I could. So I’ll just show you where you can get all that (done), and instead just give you my take on it.
I have to say, at first I was skeptical. (I’m like that.) When I realized that the majority of attendees were speakers or session leaders, I expected two days of navel-gazing and self-promotion.
And I’m not saying there wasn't any. But while the balance may not have been great financially for the conference, it ended up being phenomenal for me. I was surrounded by people who really knew their stuff – in many cases, who I’d read and known by reputation for years. It was great.
Especially since, as I mentioned, I’ve been thinking about how to translate all this cool talk into practicalities. It’s fun to Twitter back and forth in a conference room like passing notes in junior high, but how does my familiarity with that technology help me or my company or my clients?
If I were consulting on increasing software user numbers, or getting tech geeks to communicate more efficiently within a company, that might be a simpler path. Not easier work, but easier to see what to do.
To clarify, I’m not complaining. The exact opposite. Working in one of the most scrutinized industries with some of the world’s tightest federal and ethical regulations… it actually makes it that much more interesting.
I mean, it’s like sonnets. It’s hard enough to write poetry. But to get your point across in that restrictive structure is that much more of an undertaking.
To clarify that, nobody’s glorifying anything here. This ain't poetry. All I’m saying is, it's a challenge, and I like it that way. Will my clients – or my own company – embrace every social media concept right away? No. (Nor should they.) But it will eventually, when it’s right.
It just means a little creativity and a lot of stubbornness. (And I’m like that.)
I have to say, at first I was skeptical. (I’m like that.) When I realized that the majority of attendees were speakers or session leaders, I expected two days of navel-gazing and self-promotion.
And I’m not saying there wasn't any. But while the balance may not have been great financially for the conference, it ended up being phenomenal for me. I was surrounded by people who really knew their stuff – in many cases, who I’d read and known by reputation for years. It was great.
Especially since, as I mentioned, I’ve been thinking about how to translate all this cool talk into practicalities. It’s fun to Twitter back and forth in a conference room like passing notes in junior high, but how does my familiarity with that technology help me or my company or my clients?
If I were consulting on increasing software user numbers, or getting tech geeks to communicate more efficiently within a company, that might be a simpler path. Not easier work, but easier to see what to do.
To clarify, I’m not complaining. The exact opposite. Working in one of the most scrutinized industries with some of the world’s tightest federal and ethical regulations… it actually makes it that much more interesting.
I mean, it’s like sonnets. It’s hard enough to write poetry. But to get your point across in that restrictive structure is that much more of an undertaking.
To clarify that, nobody’s glorifying anything here. This ain't poetry. All I’m saying is, it's a challenge, and I like it that way. Will my clients – or my own company – embrace every social media concept right away? No. (Nor should they.) But it will eventually, when it’s right.
It just means a little creativity and a lot of stubbornness. (And I’m like that.)
25 May 2008
Mistaken Identity 22-28
I'm figuring out part of the problem. I've had Gmail since being a beta tester in April 2004, but in October 2005 a trademark dispute caused Gmail in the U.K. to become "Googlemail". So there's some glitch whereby emails addressed to firstname.lastname@googlemail.com come to me at firstnamelastname@gmail.com.
Thing is, I don't know how to fix that. I wish Google was as alert as some companies (Outlook and Buzzlogic and Plaxo, I'm talking to you) to who's talking about them in this whole blogosphere Twitterverse place. I've tried to find someone to explain this to, but the Google monolith remains silent and implacable.
* * *
Hi saz race for life went well, i power walked all the way, it were to hot too run (that's my excuse anyway). Saw Shirley's family :-( they had her photo printed onto their t-shirts. I don't look too knacked in this photo :-)
Julie
* * *
Congratulations! You are now a member of the Northwest Airlines WorldPerks program and are on your way to earning award travel, which begins at just 12,500 miles with PerkChoice awards. Your WorldPerks membership number is...
* * *
Thank you for registering with nwa.com Reservations.
* * *
Dear Sarah: Thank you for your recent purchase of 27,000 WorldPerks® miles.
* * *
Dear Sarah Morgan, Thank you for your recent decision to transfer 27,000 miles to William...
* * *
Volvo Celebrates Savings at Dyer & Dyer Volvo, Chamblee, GA
* * *
Decibel/Deepbar Milwaukee Presents Paradise! The Summer Kickoff Party
* * *
Thing is, I don't know how to fix that. I wish Google was as alert as some companies (Outlook and Buzzlogic and Plaxo, I'm talking to you) to who's talking about them in this whole blogosphere Twitterverse place. I've tried to find someone to explain this to, but the Google monolith remains silent and implacable.
* * *
Hi saz race for life went well, i power walked all the way, it were to hot too run (that's my excuse anyway). Saw Shirley's family :-( they had her photo printed onto their t-shirts. I don't look too knacked in this photo :-)
Julie
Congratulations! You are now a member of the Northwest Airlines WorldPerks program and are on your way to earning award travel, which begins at just 12,500 miles with PerkChoice awards. Your WorldPerks membership number is...
* * *
Thank you for registering with nwa.com Reservations.
* * *
Dear Sarah: Thank you for your recent purchase of 27,000 WorldPerks® miles.
* * *
Dear Sarah Morgan, Thank you for your recent decision to transfer 27,000 miles to William...
* * *
Volvo Celebrates Savings at Dyer & Dyer Volvo, Chamblee, GA
* * *
Decibel/Deepbar Milwaukee Presents Paradise! The Summer Kickoff Party
* * *
23 May 2008
Pratfalls and Other Technological Events
So: today.
I wake up at 3 a.m. to catch my flight home. I work on the flight, so upon getting to my connection, I need one of those rare-as-diamond outlets. The only one I can find is far from my gate.
At this point, I’ve completely forgotten four things: I’m on far less sleep than I usually function with. I’m on a shorter-than-usual layover. I’m in a different time zone than I’ve left or than I’m going to. And neither my laptop nor my Blackberry clocks update the time zone. So I'm tapping away, working and IMing and Twittering.
If you guessed that the story ends up with me exhausted, humiliated, furious with myself, and on a later flight, you’d be right.
A friend told me this was because of my over-reliance on technology. I think she just meant I needed to wear a watch. But maybe she's even more right: maybe this is a fantastic, irony-bathed example of the ills of social media. Coming back from a conference on all this trendy new technology, all hopped up on its coolness and promise... I miss my flight, while hooked up to all this so-called helpful technology. I'm my own cautionary tale on the useless distraction that is social media.
Yeah. That was definitely part of the mortification. But. While I completely, undeniably, did something stupid, the thing is, I've never required technological assistance to do stupid things. I’ve been doing them all my life, and I’m sure I’ll keep doing them, with or without anything electronic nearby. Nothing I was logged into or out of created my stupid mistake.
But on the other hand, technology put me in touch with people who (despite my aforementioned proclivity to do stupid things) care about me. And when you’re feeling alone, dejected, and very, very foolish, that can be the best thing in the world.
After some commiseration and some old-fashioned sympathy, I felt less alone in my stupidity. Moreover, I felt less alone, period.
So is social media a concatenation of distractions that can leave you overstimulated, confused, distracted, and unable to focus, like the naysayers argue? Absolutely.
But people argue that about the internet overall. About computers. About television. Probably Moses took crap from people who didn’t like stone tablets.
And they’re always right. Because like McLuhan said, the purpose of technology is to take your regular capacities as a human further. To imagine, to converse, to learn, to hear, to see. It’s like a pair of stilts. If you don’t get the balance right, you’ll fall down, it’ll hurt, and you’ll look pretty stupid. But if you do, you can be head and shoulders above those who aren’t bothering to try.
So I’ll just keep wobbling along and try not to mind the bruises.
Edited to add related link.
I wake up at 3 a.m. to catch my flight home. I work on the flight, so upon getting to my connection, I need one of those rare-as-diamond outlets. The only one I can find is far from my gate.
At this point, I’ve completely forgotten four things: I’m on far less sleep than I usually function with. I’m on a shorter-than-usual layover. I’m in a different time zone than I’ve left or than I’m going to. And neither my laptop nor my Blackberry clocks update the time zone. So I'm tapping away, working and IMing and Twittering.
If you guessed that the story ends up with me exhausted, humiliated, furious with myself, and on a later flight, you’d be right.
A friend told me this was because of my over-reliance on technology. I think she just meant I needed to wear a watch. But maybe she's even more right: maybe this is a fantastic, irony-bathed example of the ills of social media. Coming back from a conference on all this trendy new technology, all hopped up on its coolness and promise... I miss my flight, while hooked up to all this so-called helpful technology. I'm my own cautionary tale on the useless distraction that is social media.
Yeah. That was definitely part of the mortification. But. While I completely, undeniably, did something stupid, the thing is, I've never required technological assistance to do stupid things. I’ve been doing them all my life, and I’m sure I’ll keep doing them, with or without anything electronic nearby. Nothing I was logged into or out of created my stupid mistake.
But on the other hand, technology put me in touch with people who (despite my aforementioned proclivity to do stupid things) care about me. And when you’re feeling alone, dejected, and very, very foolish, that can be the best thing in the world.
After some commiseration and some old-fashioned sympathy, I felt less alone in my stupidity. Moreover, I felt less alone, period.
So is social media a concatenation of distractions that can leave you overstimulated, confused, distracted, and unable to focus, like the naysayers argue? Absolutely.
But people argue that about the internet overall. About computers. About television. Probably Moses took crap from people who didn’t like stone tablets.
And they’re always right. Because like McLuhan said, the purpose of technology is to take your regular capacities as a human further. To imagine, to converse, to learn, to hear, to see. It’s like a pair of stilts. If you don’t get the balance right, you’ll fall down, it’ll hurt, and you’ll look pretty stupid. But if you do, you can be head and shoulders above those who aren’t bothering to try.
So I’ll just keep wobbling along and try not to mind the bruises.
Edited to add related link.
22 May 2008
Executing Social Media
…sure, it's annoying, but does it really deserve the death penalty?
Sorry, but I’ve been making that awful joke in my own head and it had to come out.
Anyway, that's the name of the conference on social media that I'm attending. And so far, it's been an odd experience in several ways.
First, being at a meeting, to me, normally means being at a medical convention with tens of thousands of doctors, looking conservative, tracking down reporters to hook them up to interview doctors, managing events, rewriting press materials, collecting competitive intelligence. Instead, I’m sitting still. Taking notes and Twittering and emailing and IM’ing and learning. It’s startlingly relaxing, actually being an attendee.
Second, I’m usually one of the geekier people I know, being something of a technology magpie. But here, I don’t come close. It’s disorienting. But very good.
Third, I work for an agency and I work in the pharmaceutical industry, both of which make me odd here: I’m not a tech consultant. So while I’m getting a lot of information, it’s going to require a lot of thought to translate it to practicalities.
One of the main things I’m realizing is that there are several different facets, for me, of “figuring out social media.”
The first is, how to use it for my own benefit? That's not new to me.
The second is, how to use it to benefit the agency? That's getting clearer.
The third is, how to use it to benefit clients? That's the hard part.
Which realization is in itself something of a breakthrough; I hadn’t really divided it up that clearly before, but now that I have, it makes things make a lot more sense for me.
So, more later, but now, back to the presentations. (While doing some client work simultaneously. Maybe not so relaxing after all.)
Sorry, but I’ve been making that awful joke in my own head and it had to come out.
Anyway, that's the name of the conference on social media that I'm attending. And so far, it's been an odd experience in several ways.
First, being at a meeting, to me, normally means being at a medical convention with tens of thousands of doctors, looking conservative, tracking down reporters to hook them up to interview doctors, managing events, rewriting press materials, collecting competitive intelligence. Instead, I’m sitting still. Taking notes and Twittering and emailing and IM’ing and learning. It’s startlingly relaxing, actually being an attendee.
Second, I’m usually one of the geekier people I know, being something of a technology magpie. But here, I don’t come close. It’s disorienting. But very good.
Third, I work for an agency and I work in the pharmaceutical industry, both of which make me odd here: I’m not a tech consultant. So while I’m getting a lot of information, it’s going to require a lot of thought to translate it to practicalities.
One of the main things I’m realizing is that there are several different facets, for me, of “figuring out social media.”
The first is, how to use it for my own benefit? That's not new to me.
The second is, how to use it to benefit the agency? That's getting clearer.
The third is, how to use it to benefit clients? That's the hard part.
Which realization is in itself something of a breakthrough; I hadn’t really divided it up that clearly before, but now that I have, it makes things make a lot more sense for me.
So, more later, but now, back to the presentations. (While doing some client work simultaneously. Maybe not so relaxing after all.)
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