Internet Geek Girl

Taking the show on the road! And stay tuned, b/c there is much more in store.

@StephAgresta and @BrianSolis cordially invite you to join us at the Hotel Roosevelt next Wednesday, April 9th, at 8 pm. This is an informal celebration of The Techset, the people who are actively contributing to the evolution of the social economy. The Techset is everywhere, online and offline. In essence, the Techset is you.

If you’re local or if you’re in town for the party, please RSVP here and we’ll see you in Hollywood!

Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Time: 8 - 11 p.m

We look forward to generating lots of content with you.

Gary Vaynerchuk is good people. In addition to WineLibrary.TV, Gary hosts an inspirational show at GaryVaynerchuk.com that reminds me regularly to count my blessings and remember the BPP. Tonight Gary announced a FlashHoliday (thanks @pistachio).

Watch it here.

Tomorrow I celebrate all the good people in my life.

The truth is, my whole life is about good people and I try hard to meditate on that every single day. The success I have had in business is solely due to the good people I surround myself with. And ultimately, I care more about the people than the business. I guess that’s why I succeed.

To put a list of all the good people I appreciate and care about would be impossible. My friends, family, and cherished colleagues that give me strength, love and support mean everything to me. Really - I know you know who you are. I do my best to tell you and show you regularly. I am grateful for each and every one of you.

Money, career success, big home, fancy car? Means NOTHING! Good energy people are everything. For me, success is defined by how much LOVE you share!!! That’s it. Thanks for the reminder @garyvee.

Namaste my friends (the light in me honors the light in you).

([The SXSWi 2008 schwag bag, designed by Hugh MacLeod. Photo courtesy of Laughing Squid.]

SXSW Interactive is off and running. Characterized by some as “Spring Break for Geeks”, the best and brightest in social media and online strategy have descended on on Austin, TX (which we all know is the killer app - see picture above).

It’s 10:15 AM - the bloghaus isn’t officially open yet, but already we’ve got a bunch of cool people hanging: @davidparmet @maggiefox @gapingvoid @heiko @technosailor @1938media. They just keep streaming in!

Sponsored by AMD and b5media, the room is full of rock stars, refreshments and rebel blogers.

PLEASE COME BY: Get to the 3rd FLOOR and then look for ROOM 7. You can also check out EVERYTHING on sxswbloghaus.com and on the Twitter channel.

The BlogHaus TV Channel on Mogulus will also be live streaming throughout the day.

It’s a furry of activity. Social objects everywhere. Come join in on the fun.

Jersey girl wanted a Hugh Card.

Jersey girl got a Hugh Card.

Big thanks to @shelisrael and of course @gapingvoid.

It’s a good time of the year to join a club. A good friend of mine is doing a “21 Club” - 21 days of yoga in a row. And now we have Blog 365.

What a great idea. I’m a little late to commit to the whole 365, but I really do want to make sure that blogging becomes more of a daily routine (it is if you add Twitter in, but that is a theoretical discussion for another time). Here are the suggested “rules” of the Blog 365 group (which is on Ning incidentally):

Rules:
- Blog everyday for 365 days.

- Feb.29th is a Free Day and will be the Blog365 day of rest!
(Thanks Leap Year)

- You do not HAVE to post to the same blog as long as you post everyday.

- No internet? Write your post locally and post it once you are back on the grid.

- Computer Broken? Grab some paper and do some old school blogging.

- A post is a post, not everything has to be in writing. Photos, YouTube videos, and the like are all considered content.

- Have fun, because that’s the whole point!

Note:
If you post offline work, consider changing the date on the post to reflect the day you actually created the content

Hmm.. I’m thinking of making another club. Call it…BlogOm! Let’s try 30 days in a row of doing yoga and writing a blog post everyday. Now that sounds heavenly. Any other yogi bloggers out there want to join me?

BlogOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Social media has the power to heal. From the Frozen Pea Fund to the stories of support and friendship that pop up on Twitter - I see daily examples of how important this medium has become to our social fabric.

Lance Armstrong and The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) team have long used the Internet to drive grassroots support for their charitable efforts. Many of you know that I’m all about LIVESTRONG. Well - Lance is on the road again, and he and his team of awesome volunteers will be in New Orleans on January 29th and 30th, helping to build new homes for cancer survivors and their families. Working with Habitat for Humanity (HFH), the LAF team will relocate New Orleans-area families who have faced the twin challenges of fighting cancer and displacement by Hurricane Katrina.

Can you believe it’s been almost two and a half years since Hurricane Katrina and there are still so many people lacking basic shelter? To use a favorite geek phrase: WTF?!? This is truly one of the great tragedies of our collective journey these last few years. I hope that our country elects a President that can start showing true leadership and unite us in efforts to improve ourselves and the world. Let’s not wait until November. Let’s start using our energy, skills, resources and talent TODAY to help those around us and send out positive vibes every where we go. Please make a donation to help Lance, LAF and HFH build homes for cancer survivors in New Orleans. Even $10 makes a difference.

There is no question that social media has the power to transform markets, communities, culture, and news. And let’s not forget the impact it has had on plain old socializing. Like all powerful tools, it can be used to harm and to heal. I choose HEAL. I hope you join me in the effort to make things just a little bit better. I realize we all don’t have time and resources to give of ourselves every day, but every little bit counts so please give something, no matter how small. Your support can come in many ways. The LiveStrong Facebook App (which Scott and Jeff Rozic developed) has over 80,000 users! That’s 80,000 small acts that have added value and support to hundreds of thousands of REAL PEOPLE. Please do whatever you can: yes, give some $, but also consider adding a social cause app on your facebook profile, telling a friend about your favorite charity, putting frozen peas in your avatar, VOTING, smiling at a stranger, bringing food to a food bank, hugging your family! Spread the LOVE.

Lance, Susan, Chris B (my house buildin’ pal), and all the cancer survivors out there that are using the Internet to help others HEAL - we are with you!!

Happy New Year friends. May 2008 be filled with good karma and many blessings. And may we all be new and improved every year.

I realize it’s a bit late into the year here for New Year greetings (or is it)? I was chilling in Florida for a bit, and I’m just getting back into the groove. But I couldn’t be more excited for 2008. Stayed tuned for many exciting announcements in the coming weeks.

But let’s start here, with Karma - Twitter Karma to be exact.

Let me explain because this is truly great social media story.

Dossy is my Twitter friend, he’s also a rad developer who lives here in New Jersey (go Jersey!). Back in December I was musing on Twitter about how I wish I had a tool that easily allowed me to figure out who is a reciprocal twitter friend and add followers to my list. As many of you know, I really love Twitter and more and more, I find it to be the most satisfying of all social networks. [Facebook is getting spammy - let's fix that people]. And surprise, surprise, Dossy made it happen. He built the thing!! I’m honored to have helped select the name btw. How very cool. Here’s the full announcement on Dossy’s blog.

I am amazed by the inspiration I find on Twitter, and the swirl of ideas that live in the petri dish of our online social networks. One person’s 140 character phrase is another’s software feature. Give to receive my friends, and please go give Twitter Karma a WHACK!

Peace Out!

And what a year it has been. I am grateful for all my awesome friends and colleagues. Hope you enjoy these shots from the many industry conferences and networking events I attended this year. Thank you all for your support. Have an awesome holiday and successful 2008.

I look forward to seeing you next year!

Last week Hugh Macleod used his cartoon defibrillator and his witty word smithing to revive blogging! Last December at this time, the analysts at Gartner made their predictions for 2007 and they said that blogging will peak next year and all the hype will fizzle out. They weren’t the only ones writing about the death of blogging. Hugh on the other hand has provided us with quite a different view on this (still emerging) media:

If you have something to say, then a blog offers a cheap, easy global medium in which to express yourself. This is as true now as it was three years ago, regardless of what the groovy cats in Silicon Valley may be up to.

Whether you have the time and the talent for it, “i.e. the skill and the will”, is another matter altogether. Also, whether other people will want to read it, is something one has little control over. But in both cases, the same is true for all other media.

This got me thinking - and truthfully - feeling quite guilty for not blogging lately. Blogging is not dead for me (as the title suggest, I’ve just been insanely busy). I suppose Twitter and Facebook serve as creative outlets for the time-deprived. [NOTE: I posted my 1000th Tweet on Nov. 5th, which means I did about 230 Tweets in a month.] Yum… metrics! Bottom line here is - in 2008, I commit to making more time for me and for blogging! (Are they one in the same?!?)

I think my Twitter, Flickr and Facebook are important tools that go hand and hand with this blog (not separate from it). In fact, I think all marketers would benefit from maximizing the cross-promotional synergies of blogs, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, Magnify, Utterz, Seesmic, , and all the many social networks out there. Hey and let’s not forget off line expression. Be creative and build your micro brand (or macro one!)

If Marshal McLuhan is right and “the medium is the message,” the focus should be on the various ways human beings extend themselves, and how these extensions affect our relationships with others (and as a marketer I would add, with companies).

You may *prefer* one form of extension to another, but IMHO if you’re not making use of the depth and breadth of what’s out there, you’re not doing a good enough job. Fear not - there are lots of people out there to help you.

In addition to my (now relieved) guilt - the real message here is that Hugh’s work really cracks me up. I love his clever cartoons and bon mot. I know, so do lots of people (1840 Followers as of 10 pm EST on 12/7) . I’m just a fangirl! Oh yeah - I’m also just the cutey-pie you met in a bar.

Hi friends. I just wanted to share this great video by my social-media pal Gary Vaynerchuk. That’s VAY - NER - CHUK. It is only 2 minutes long so check it out. Having worked on a project with Gary, I can tell you that he has a great attitude and positive approach to business. I appreciate that and value kernels of wisdom that help me to stay focused on gratitude (throughout my very busy day). Gary is so dynamic and eloquent with his advice. Thanks for sharing Gary!