New Gig - Come join in the convos!

So I have some kewl news, everyone.  I've got a second Twitter account! 

Well, not REEEEALLY.  It's more like I'm part of a great team of people, and I'll be sending out tweets through their account - you know, stuff I already tweet about. Like what's happening in Ottawa. Or where to take your family for a great activity. Or where the best sale is on awesome gear. Or what a brutal, tough day  I have had.  Or hilarious things our babies do.  And mostly, I'll be chatting with you.

Basically, I'm just going to be myself, and I want you to join me.  I'll be tweeting on UsedOttawa, which I am sure you ALL know is a great site to buy and sell cool, useful or just random stuff, right?  (As an aside, it's a Canadian company - like - NOT owned by Google. #justsaying)

... and come to think of it, it's January, and we've been purging around here lately. I guess I'll also be posting some stuff for sale soon too. But I digress...

So how is this gonna work? Well, you will know the tweets are mine because my initials will be attached to all my tweets, but my partner in crime, Jordan, is pretty darn interesting too, as is Jennifer, a VERY old (we won't really go into how old, kay?) friend from high school in Winnipeg who is one of the big brains at the head office of UsedEverywhere in Victoria, BC.  (You didn't even know this about me, right?  Yes, I am a military brat who spent the better part of her high school years in the 'Peg. The rest? Well, I was in Goose Bay, Labrador, and then many many other temporary 'homes'.  Yeah.  Exactly. Explains so much, right?)

So.  Come join the convos.  See if you feel like following the Used tweets, and be sure to say hello and let us know if there's something cool we should share with other tweeps in Ottawa. I'm excited...

Google+ n Stuff

Do you see me?  I'm under that rock.  Have been for some time now.  It's awfully interesting under this rock, and I've been very happy here; however I'm getting tired of the same scenery and occasionally I'm now peeking out to see what else is out there. 

It looks different. It's a bit mysterious and many new things have sprouted over the various seasons that have come and gone. Stuff I need to know about if I'm going to go back out there, to that job that pays me so that we can live in our shiny new house.

I only know about a few new shiny toys out there - Google+, Pinterest...but there are many many more I must explore!  I'm both excited and trepidatious about this - how will I find the time? Which creations are the most applicable to the public service? What are the ins and outs of each, and what about analytics, policies and management?  So much to see and learn!!!

So, my social media savvy friends.  What new shiny toys have the greatest potential for use by, or consideration for, the public service?

What new info is out about security, analysis, and management of social media properties for government? 

What are your favourite articles of recent release that can kickstart my exploration of the world beyond my rock?

Respectfully yours,
She who has spawned under a rock but now must leave the hiding place to seek out sustenance for her family

Connectivity and cool people

So a few weeks ago I caught a tweet from a twitter contact that said something to the effect of "I'm in the Christmas spirit.  I will give a free photo shoot to the first person who replies."

To which I, of course, replied..."am I too late?"

This woman, @cornPuppies on Twitter, agreed to come to our home (house call !) and take family shots of the four of us using natural light.  All I can say is WOW.  She took some incredible shots, and even one or two flattering shots of my husband and/or I - a feat that not many people can claim they have managed!!! What's really incredible is that she just loves photography as a hobby and doesn't want to move into any sort of paying gig, so this is sheerly for her fun - and our very appreciative benefit!

I have added some of the shots to the photo slideshow on this blog, but here are a couple faves:

More to come, as she is willing to come again and again to snap some photos as desired.  I will surely take her up on this. 

I cannot understate how beneficial it has been, for a variety of reasons, to be connected to wonderful people on social networks. It amazes me that anyone would NOT be on here, meeting great brains, lovely comedians, local artisans and personalities, and friends. It's truly a rewarding experience.

Give the crowd a standing ovation!

I have to say this about that....there is no substitute for the power of many minds moving toward the same desired outcome.  Quite simply, it's called crowd-sourcing. If there is a single business out there that is not thinking about how to use the crowd to reach higher, strive further, get ahead, then, well...you are wasting time and money. It can be a simple concept, or, as I have found trying to find simple articles on crowd-sourcing and their benefits, it can be quite complicated!

All it is, really, is the recognition that there is more than one person who loves the same things that you do and who, working in tandem, could help you get where you want to go faster.  If I was a new owner of any business, I would imediately be seeking out others in the same business to work together to solve problems, find solutions and expand that business. 

Or, expressed differently, I will ask a question:  Faced with a challenge at work, do you try solve the question alone or do you solicit help and input from others you know who have either an interest in these areas or experience in same?  That's a form of crowd-sourcing.  So is the most amazing up-to-date encyclopedia in the world, Wikipedia.

It simply doesn't make sense not to go out and get input.  Tap into people's interests and passions. Use them as a source of insight and inspiration. Build your community. 

And, ultimately, get ahead...faster.

Very soon I am going to set up just such a crowd-sourced task force.  I can't wait to see the amazing results to build strategies, answer questions, face challenges head on, and achieve incredible results from our efforts. It's energizing and it's fun.

You should try it sometime!

Twitterspheric Pressure - Careful what you say about the new info-sharing world out there in tweetland!

By now, a lot of people I know have heard about and read this post. When you are as high profile as The New Yorker staff writer George Packer is, you KNOW you are going to inspire comment if you criticize arguably the most influential social media engagement tool in 2010.  We tweeps are a passionate bunch. Just look at some of the reactions to the article and you will see that we have a LOT to say in defence of our twittersphere!

My two cents:

1. Yes, I am an information addict. It's what I do. I'm a communicator and it is my job to learn, grow, study, intellectualize (where it makes sense) and communicate what I know.  If you don't learn, you don't have anything new to offer...What is it you do again, George?

2. I still consider myself relatively new to Twitter, and so at the moment, I haven't figured out my boundaries.  I do spend too much time here, but when necessary, I will find a more manageable rhythm and calm it all down a bit. After all, I need time to digest the information and then do something with that information to fit it into my current profession and deliverables.  I'm getting there, but George...here's where our approaches differ - I'm not afraid to go swimming. I like to just dive in. I find it's a good approach to learning how to swim, but hey...maybe that doesn't work for you.

3. Related to this - I'm learning how to navigate these waters (a.k.a. filter).  Rather than bitch about how jumping into the stream is frightening and out of control - how about you offer some solutions to launch successfully onto this 'raging river' instead of making people feel they will all drown if they jump in.  I'm following quite a few people who are managing to sail brilliantly through these waters, and I am learning from them!

Love the spark that caused this fire.  I thank Mr. Packer for raising this topic. It makes for good reading. There's a lot I could say, but what do you have to say on the topic? I'm interested...

Slow and steady wins the race

Discovery, discovery, discovery.  I've been so tired at the end of every day for months now because I am trying to be a sponge and just soaking everything up, but I also don't have a lot of patience.  I bought this domain, and so of course I want to get it up and running. 

But I need to do this one. step. at. a. time.  Today that meant discovering that I couldn't simply sign up with Wordpress and get my unique domain without paying to have it there, so then began the realization that there are a million places to buy and host domains out there and GoDaddy was certainly not necessarily the best and/or only place to go.  This led me to once again rely on the fantastic connections I have made and to discovery of another hosting/domain company that has a one-click Wordpress install button and other lovely features (not to mention a massive sale on the hosting costs for a year).

So.  With the help of a fantastic local blogger/personality/music lover, I have now at the very least found the company and signed on for a host.  Now I need to go to the original company and figure out how to transfer the domain over to the new supplier, then set things up. Lots to figure out how to do, but...one step at a time, right? 

More to come!

I bought a web domain (my little piece of the Internet)...now what?

Hi.

I know I often ask questions, and really, there's not enough traffic on here yet to get all that much of a conversation happening.  But I'm REALLY green about this whole blogging thing.I find myself in an odd limbo, as I want to split this blog into two and get going on the "Me2pointoh" blog, but given that the new blog is going to be about my exploration INTO the world of better blogging, social media conversations, policy, management, analyitics and beyond, my problem is that I kinda want to set the blog up BEFORE I learn a whole lot about the blogging process and best practices. 

So.

I am appealing to y'all.  What do I do? Or, more specifically, I want to start off by using Wordpress, but when I go there to 'register' and/or set up my domain (http://www.me2pointoh.com/), the option I get is only to set up the addy with the .wordpress.com extension.  Not what I wanted, since I paid to avoid this.  Anyone know what I need to do to get started?  Am I missing a very easy step or tab or button to the info?  Rudimentary searches to ask this question have turned up nothing, but I will keep searching.

In the meantime...

Help?

Thank you, in advance, and very sincerely,
Me

I DID it! The birthdate of a new blog: Me2pointoh.com !!!

Okay...so thanks to my friends on Twitter, I have finally taken the plunge to buy the domain name I have wanted to start this second "What the hell am I doing?" blog that will be all about my forays, stumbles, success stories and embarrassing moments in social media communications.  I see it as an account of some of my observations, resources I find and what they are good for, and PLENTY of comments about what isn't going right along the way.  I CANNOT WAIT! 

Of course...now I have to design the damn thing!  Will be starting with a Wordpress theme of some sort, and welcome any and all help you have.  I long for good advice, people!!!

But...it's a start, and it is very exciting to me to, as one of my tweeps said, "own a little piece of the internet"!

Cool.  Time for bed.

Twitter Tip: every Sunday evening, people use the hashtag #blogchat to discuss their blogs, ideas, best practices and offer help. It's great.  Tune in.  (about 9pm EST)

In which idea girl cries over technical lack of know-how

So I said I would chronicle my challenges in the Me 2.oh realm, right?  Well, today has been a day.  I'm friggin in TEARS just trying to do the simplest of things -  nothing I try to do is working out today, and I am one of those people who gets incredibly stressed and upset when every move is delayed by ignorance of what to do in the face of hiccups.

Take my efforts just to add an offline reader and bookmarking app to my bloody iTouch.  I'm trying to load and try out the Diigo app, which says that it will allow me to read articles offline but still bookmark them so that I can find them again in the future and tag them as valuable for certain subjects.

It's not working out. 

(as an aside, I am finding my iTouch a bit of a tease, as it is an incredibly useful mobile personal device, but mostly only when you are somewhere with Wireless internet access.  This GENERALLY means that I have to be at home to truly use it, and I can use my laptop instead, so ...  it's just kinda half cool, really.  I want to access, bookmark, read, load, communicate and engage while on the bus and wherever I am throughout the day, you know?  And honestly, social media gets really overwhelming quickly if you go for several hours without monitoring and listening.  When you finally get back online, there is TOO MUCH INFO.  So yeah..that's my whoeisme bullshit whine for today. Boo hoo I have an iTouch instead of a full iPhone.  If that's my biggest issue, then life is bloody good....)

So yes, anyway, what's wrong with the Diigo thing is that I have to go online through Safari to add my bookmarking tool, and as I am following the instructions, I get to a point where I add the "Save to Diigo" part, but then it gives me instructions to access the bookmark, then edit the URL that shows up to remove some of the characters.  The thing is...I can't EDIT it.  The cursor is dead over that spot.  And I keep trying to figure out here and there what I might be doing wrong, but every time I go through the process, it adds more and more "Save to Diigo" bookmark screens, but NOTHING CHANGES folks!  I am utterly frustrated!  These things just drive me nuts.  totally bonkers. Full out tantrum, people!  I toss aside the iTouch, scream, tears fill my eyes, and then I say I will come back to it again and figure it out next time.  But I've done this three times now, and I just can't STAND it.

So yeah. 

Fun times.

What to do, people?  Who has the solution for me? Maybe there's another iTouch app that I can try instead?  ARGGGH.

time for a glass of wine and, I think, time to put the bloody tech tools down for a while.  Sigh.

Avalanche of information - more on Me 2.Oh

It all depends on the day, I have to say, how I react to the veritable onslaught of information I have signed on to get. To say that it is overwhelming is a vast understatement. I'm learning, to be sure, but it doesn't feel like I am progressing fast enough, but then, I'm impatient and always have been.

So, what have I been learning?

1. My biggest revelation has been that it won't pay to be perfectionistic.

Seriously. You can't expect to be active on social media and know it all, see it all, or say it all. You summarize, you glance, you scan, you filter, you postulate, you guess, you contribute and you help (and yeah, you ASK for help). Yes, you can educate and be educated, but to be relevant, you've gotta be FAST. You don't have 10 days to think about what you are going to say - just offer up what you have on hand, and know that your opinion counts as much as a fully researched report does.

2. You may be a diverse person, but if you are going to remain sane, you need to specialize and not generalize.

Still working this one out. When you are someone with multiple interests, you not only feel inclined to try pursue all these interests, but if engaged in social media, would naturally like to talk about all these interests. Problem is, every day is a compromise where you are only able to do so much in a day, and so you choose at each moment of free time to do the BEST thing first. (Well, kinda. I'm constantly resentful of all the obligations, chores and other tasks that keep me from my interests and fun pursuits. That's why I really identified with this post earlier today from @RedheadWriting . Very funny.) This reality is mirrored in your social media pursuits. Don't bite off too much. Be effective in a couple communities of choice. Say relevant things. Share, digest, contribute, educate and get educated. If you say too much about too many things, you say very little about any one thing, ya know?


What are you most passionate about? Do that. Ask Gary Vee what I mean.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhqZ0RU95d4

3. Social media presence, influence and success takes TIME.

Remember the patience I spoke of? Yeah. I don't have all that much. I want to see results, succeed (more on why focusing on this is not a smart application of your time and energy) and feel like I have accomplished something impressive. But I now know that this is a slow-burnin process. You don't birth your brand in the 21 days it take a mouse to reproduce, but more along the lines of the time it takes for a baby elephant(that knowledge is thanks to a baby shower game yesterday BTW)... see above speech from Gary Vaynerchuk for more on that, too.

4. Just be you. Observe the etiquette to say thanks, give credit, admit ignorance, ask questions, be helpful when you can, and pick interesting stuff to say. I try not to tweet about the fact that I am going to bed, and I try not to look up and put quotes out there. I try to add something new, or share something valuable. Or, if I am able, say something funny - whatever. Authenticity is key. Your influence and community will grow organically.

So..yeah. A lot more that could be said, and will, but I'm learning about myself as well as about the platforms and tools in the social media world. And some days, it's simply overwhelming, if you don't step back, figure out how to filter (another full post on another day), and take it one blip at a time.

By the way...I love my blip.fm radio station. Are you on there? Join me and show me some great music. Would love to hear it.

What have you learned? What has been your biggest revelation? Would love to know...

More about blog secrets

speaking of better blogging....take a look at this lovely gem by Mitch Joel called Blog Secrets Revealed

There so much bloody info out there - at no cost. No need to go to school, folks. Just surf the bloody Net!

Don't look back. You can never look back.

Don Henley was a sage man.

Yah, you can learn by studying past experiences and finding revelations in them, but you know what? I've never been good at 'my life in review'. I thought, for about 5 minutes, that it would be a good exercise for me to read my posts from the past year, and then blog a bit about the better insights, or the funnier statements, or even the most useless and/or uninteresting things I wasted time saying, but I couldn't mustre up the energy. Really couldn't. I'm just not that girl, who overthinks her actions or worries about things she has done in the past. No regrets, man, NO REGRETS.

So what about the future, then? What the heck do I hope to be able to say this year to myself, to you, to the blogger world? Do I have to have a plan, or a theme, or some heaven-sent insights to feel worthy of writing? ...

Well, yeah, I kinda do. At the very least, I should have a plan or a point to my posts. I should have a specific item to share, tidbit to impart or idea to pose, and if not that, then I should say something funny. Why? Because although a blog can simply be an outlet to express yourself, if you want people to read, you have to say something INTERESTING.

So that is my objective this year - if I don't have something interesting to say, I won't say anything at all, because to me, saying nothing is better than turning people off reading due to the dull dronings of an uninspired chick in a bitterly cold capital city. And if I DO have something to say, I will share it, because gosh darn it, I want people to like me (and read me)! (*Thanks to Mashable for great info!)

- It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped (Anthony Robbins)

No regrets...Here's to 2010.

No time, so just a couple questions!

Okay. Have to pack for my desperately necessary xmas trip to Arizona, but here's the thing. I have a new purpose in my work life. I'm on a social media working group and a number of us are hoping in a few months to present a kick-a** social media strategy to the highers up in our organization. I already have a lot of ideas and a lot of fodder for those ideas, but I have specifically been given the tast to study Twitter and the potential for a blog for our 'arm' of the government.

So...followers and followers of followers...whatcha got? ideas? articles? resources and feeds I should follow? Tell and tell all, 'cause I'm gonna eat it all up!

Thanks, most respectfully, in advance.

Happy Holidays!

Deep, deep into the recesses of social media

One of the biggest challenges to operating on the social media stage, I am beginning to realize, is figuring out how to optimize the use of the tools not to listen and interact, but to FILTER. You simply cannot follow everyone and everything out there, and you could spend 24/7 just looking for the info that you want or need. (Who has that kinda time? - Even if it is your job, which at the moment, it isn't, so lob at least 50hrs of the week off my free time right there.)

Take, for example, that I found more value this week in reading an issue of Marketing magazine (print copy) called Brave New World (June 15, 2009) that discussed how marketers can learn to thrive in a new digital landscape, than I did spending hours and hours sorting through Twitter hashtags, links to blog posts and websites and reading my various carefully selected feeds in Google Reader.

What does that mean? It means I have a lot to learn about sifting through my digital information to find the best of the best that applies to what I want to read and see. And let's just say the prospect of figuring this out is daunting. VERY daunting. But that is part of this process, right?

So for now, I am a new convert to picking up my free issues of Marketing magazine from work and reading those on the bus, as well as sifting and sorting and working with tools. Eventually I will have some sorta system, and be better at this.

But a word of caution is that I am WELL aware that in this new mediascape, you will never get too comfortable, and that the tools will be ever-changing, and so really, what you need to define is the philosophy and the key objectives for filtering, and then apply the right, ever-changing tools. Otherwise, you will be lost.

And that's just the listening part of the puzzle that is social media engagement...

Good thing I love this.

Gosh....I'm so not cool.

I can't take two moves forward without having technology trip me up! Tonight, I can't seem to insert a URL into my tweet on twitter through Tweetdeck. What's up with that? And then, I take a trip to my pretty little beach blog here and see that although I set up a Twitter feed that is SUPPOSED to feed my latest two tweets onto this page, it was in fact streaming, like, 15 strangers tweets on my blog?!? WTF?

And I can't figure out what's wrong! It's THESE little things that a) make me feel totally inept and incompetent and that b) make me very very veeeery frustrated and annnngry.

and THAT's not the look I was goin' for, ya know?

*aside:
And for posterity sake, here is the web page I was going to tweet about 'cause I knew it would be interesting to my Tfriends...

Me 2 Point Oh

What comes first, the chicken or the egg? We've all heard the question, and now I realize what a conundrum it really is, and how legitimately it applies to a number of situations that might arise in one's life.

Take, for instance, the fact that I REALLY want to work on and launch a second blog that will document my forays into studying, using, recommending and living social media. My trials, my stupidity, my 'ah HA!' moments and my frustrations. I want to document them all - and tell y'all about it, if you care.

Ah, but here's the rub. I don't want to create a URL and drop into another templated free site, but I want to proceed with careful forethought. This is because, as a strategic communicator, I really want to build a brand. I want to target my expertise and build this new second site as the go-to site for insights, information, perspective and my personal professional brand. And I want it to have my personality, and my 'look' and especially have a URL that is memorable.

But I know there are platforms out there that I could still use that are free, and I know that using some of these would be just fine, thank you. But the process? I want to document it, and I need HELP people!

What platforms should I look at and why?
Who knows of some free custom blog designs that are really cool?
What advice do you have for me? I already have the name, and hope that the platforms I use will allow me to link into all my other engagement tools easily, but what else?

Would LOVE your comments and insights. Thanks in advance.

Social Media and Me 2 Point Oh!

What do you think of this title for a new blog I am thinking about setting up? The premise would be to set up a blog to discuss my 'discovery' of social media and its various tools and tricks, link to best practices, and cool info, and detail frustrations, confusion and other craziness that goes with it? If I had the blog, I would immediately start on the topic of setting up a damn blog!

Sure, I think that this blog is fine, but it is cookie-cutout, and so I was looking for some great advice on how to custom-build a blog using some of the tools out there.

Think with my new tools I would be able to find some great content on that? Not so far.

I have so much to learn.

Well...here goes. I just need time and energy, and I will get it going. If you have any advice...? Any links to great how to's...??? Y'know...whatever.

Jus' ME 2.0 Y'know?

Women need to talk about their experiences

Fascinating. I didn't know about this when it first came out, but in light of recent events, I found this online.

New communications realities

So I have been twittering, as you know, and I have also been looking into social media as a whole and trying to stay on top of some of the tools as well as the arguments for using them. I loved this article, and in particular, what was said here:

Is digital marketing the wave of the future or just today’s in thing?
I think the key issue is not digital marketing vs. conventional marketing but rather interactive communication vs. passive communication. The trend of tomorrow will be that the consumer will be in the driver seat of communication. I call this the MSP generation—Me Selling Proposition. The brands no longer have the power, the consumer does. The consumer today (more and more) has trust (more than the companies), i.e. consumers trust consumers more than brands. The consumer also has the message in their power, meaning more than 500,000 new blogs appear every day and every consumer has a TV station in their backyard, meaning they have access to the world via the internet. Those three factors mean that the consumer has substantially more power than the brands, which is the reason why the share price of Domino’s Pizza dropped 9.7 percent in just one day due to a video upload from a consumer on YouTube. This very interactive MSP phenomena means that brands need to engage with consumers in a totally new way: a trend which is about to become a standard for all communication in the future—and not just an in thing.



Read more: http://www.imaginepub.com/orange/dirty-little-secrets#ixzz0V5bYLeXj

I wonder how long it will take the Gov't to universally recognize that the only way to control their brand is to simply be transparent and do a good, honest, respectable job with taxpayer money?

Time and inclination

I haven't been writing much. I have been exploring another addictive social media tool, Twitter. It's quite the powerful play area, I must say! I have found top chefs who tweet about their days or food they are making. I have found winos who tweet about wine cellar resources (BTW www.winecellar.com...? COOL.)

But if I am honest, I am mostly not writing because I don't feel well. I keep sabbotaging my efforts to lose weight and get healthy again. I keep looking for things to do to be happier. I keep just kinda 'going through the motions' of my days, waiting for the next time I can try to get pregnant again. If I am really and brutally honest, I am unhappy. But it's hard to come to terms with that, when you look around and life is no different now than it was before the miscarriages, and in fact, we have more money and are in a better financial position. We have a new kitchen (almost) and our health, which jeeeez....seems like a MASSIVE blessing these days.

This week will be good though. Finally getting the kitchen moving again (granite on one side being replaces, plus the final touches on the cabinets and handles, etc.) and soon we will be able to get our handyman in again and we will then be able to tile the backsplash, replace the plug plates (bought some cool stainless steel ones), paint, install the new light fixtures, and then the only remaining item will be left - whatever solution we figure out for the patio blind/sun block. We have a major challenge because the kitchen design and the high cabinet on the left only clears the patio door frame by 1/8 of an inch. So. We need a solution to mount inside the frame and it will be interesting to see what we figure out. And believe me, with sunshine streaming in from the back of the house, we can't go long without something there. But the rest will be done, and THAT is exciting.

But it is a fleeting, external source of happiness. There's only one thing that will truly make me happy again. Being pregnant again.

Wish me luck.