Posts for category ‘Techie Love’

The renowned Chris Brogan issued a challenge for folks everywhere to use three words to describe each person in the year 2010. Unlike his, I had been using various phrases. The gamut has been from the motivating “Tough it out” or “Get ‘er done” to the laid-back “Just knit it” and “Heck with it” ones. Finally I have gone back to the drawing board and present the words that best describe my upcoming goals:

Drive – This word’s two-fold definitions are both a verb and noun. When I refuse to give up a cause and will instead go forward, I shall take control of my actions and responsibly steer myself towards the best solution. Since I am constantly on the go and purposefully making waves to promote change, I shall do so earnestly and with a genuine smile. My love for whatever project I participate will show through every single action I make.
Care – Lately being mindful to all around me has been taking a back seat except when I am knitting or studying. My inability to express myself on my blog and instead use Twitter/Facebook has hindered multiple opportunities for growth. I have been losing touch with friends and comrades because I have been so engrossed in what affects myself directly. From now on, I shall be writing in-depth articles in a timely manner instead of relying on blurbs that tell a partial story to a limited audience. Personally for myself, little distractions always prove largely disastrous. I shall not let the passionate fervor for what I love affect the meticulous details required in the rest of my daily life.
Acknowledgment – There are 3 segments to this word; each are equally important to describe their sense and purpose.
1. I sometimes forget to thank the folks who add me to their blog reads, LinkedIn contacts, Ravelry/Facebook/Plurk friends, and Twitter followings. Without all of you, I would be out of touch with the world.
2. I am deeply appreciative of those friends who send me uplifting words whenever I am down (believe it or not, I am not always the hoppy bunny I seem to be). Your support is an immense crutch that I lean on heavily.
3. I am especially grateful to those people in my life who have helped me in numerous ways financially to get me on my feet. Somehow, someway, I will pay it all back whether by using my hands to make something, or in monetary return. This year I will not just try, but will do the utmost not to ignore my fellow friends and family.

Here is when I offer myself to everybunny’s thoughts and opinions. What 3 words would describe yourself for this year? =:8

Okay, I did it. I wrote a guest post on Handshake 2.0 titled, “The Business of Knitting” and hope the 300-words-or-less challenge is met in a positive light. The yarn manufacturing industry continuously has the stereotype of an elderly woman knitting while seated in a rocking chair with cats at her feet. Hello, but though I may be fabulously forty, I am by no means “elderly” and have no rocking chairs in my house. The crafters (weavers, spinners, knitters and crocheters) of both genders are hip and young at heart no matter what their age. So do not dare say I am old!

To note, the social network of Ravelry has brought together what online groups, e-lists, blogs and podcasts have started. Crafters have been communicating online worldwide, and Ravelry now offers a single resource that combines them together. Only on Ravelry can a person in Denmark comment how much she likes one of my projects, and where I can also participate in a worldwide group on specific techniques used in Scandinavia.

The community of yarn has brought different races, religions, and politics together. Currently I am looking forward to the 2010 Knitting Olympics. Here is when teams of crafters around the world will start a self-chosen project when the torch is lit, and in 16 days time finish that project when the fire is extinguished. Most of these projects can generally take months or even years to finish, but the bragging rights of participating are immense. My project of challenge will most likely be either a complicated lace ensemble (shawl or stockings), or an intricately cabled covering (coat or jacket). Either way, I am rising up with the other folks who are techies like myself and are not afraid of admitting their craft. Are you? =:8

If there is something that made me sad upon leaving New England, especially the Boston area, it was missing the amount of meetups for social networking. Since PodCamp opened my eyes, I became more active in the non-knitting realm and was eager for increasing my connections to interesting folks. Now that I have been living in Southwest Virginia for a month, I think folks in New England might not realize how lucky they are in being more advanced both in the technology and the fiber realms.

With my arrival to Blacksburg full of rose-tinted visions, I looked in advance for groups to associate myself. Unfortunately the one group I found on LinkedIn had required membership (as in dues and such) stipulations. I am fine with the requirements, but wish that information was listed up front to avoid confusion. Slowly I found folks to follow on Twitter when on November 20th Dr. Vittorio Bonomo and I attended Modea’s Social Media Marketing Question and Answer Session in the Pamplin School of Business at Virginia Tech. The presentation was targeted towards those who either taught or attended the college, but there were some other interested folks who were just outside that circle. From that day I had met both Gary Cope and Michael Kiser along with the trio from Modea: Aaron Herrington, Mansi Trivedi, and Mike Cox. That afternoon I met Joseph Rooks, and knew this Twitter group was just the beginning of better things to come.

Because of their tweets, I had discovered a Tweetup on December 1st for Handshake 2.0 by Anne Giles Clelland. Excited about the event, I started Tweeting even more so. (begin /tangent) To explain, a few months back I joined Foursquare. Since Richmond is my currently adopted city, I have been Tweeting about all the places I have been from Blacksburg to Virginia Beach. It seems that I *ahem* have been Tweeting about a LOT of places. According to Foursquare, I am mayor at over 40 venues… (end /tangent)

The evening of Handshake 2.0’s Tweetup at Bull and Bones Brewhaus was to promote its new video. All I can say is that president Anne’s energy is contagious. In her business, she is promoting various folks including the New River Valley Triathlon scheduled for July 2010. While there I met Cameron Nouri, Evangelist of Rackspace and the team of Beth and Corey from The NewVA Corridor Technology Council. Later, dinner for me was the duck wrap and an cold glass of St. Maeve’s stout. I consider the lilting conversation as my dessert. Knowing that I will see many of these folks again, I left a hoppy bunny.

The next night was even more adventurous because Rackspace’s Software division was hosting (please excuse the pun) a Wine/Cheese party for its anniversary. I saw Cameron, met with Stuart Mease from their HR department, and was delighted to chat with other members of the company like co-founder Pat Matthews. His presentation answered a lot of questions that folks in the community have probably wondered like the number of “Rackers” who were employed, the growth of the company, etc. From the night before, I ran into both Beth and Ronald, and I think we all are looking forward to Rackspace’s next celebration.

My lesson learned from these weeks has been this one: If you are just pining for networking, you cannot sit at home on the computer and Tweet. You have to go out and meet folks to be real. I am determined to do just that in the Southwestern Virginia corridor! =:8

For many weeks, I have been biting my tongue whenever I remembered the crime scene. I had walked into the Natick Mall Sears to participate in what I expected would be a busy 3-ring circus. Why the expectation? Lands End was hosting two of the knitting world’s rockstars, Kate Jacobs and Vickie Howell, in an event to knit hats for the homeless. Since the e-mail I received about this event was very last minute, I was worried that I would be lost in the crowd of fans. Instead I was in a front row seat to witness Lands End’s failure to reach a highly sought audience for their targeted goal of 250000 knitted hats.

With today’s fluctuating economy, savvy businesses utilize social media tools to increase their customer base. Being active in the realm of weblogs, podcasts, and online networks have enabled these businesses to advertise their products and services. For specific niche markets, narrowing the target to reach a solid customer base is a must to reaping high ROI. Lands End’s charity drive stop in Massachusetts is an example of how not to use social media.

In chatting with Kate, Vickie, and the woman who represented Lands End’s charity drive, I discovered a few keys affecting the low turnout of knitters (about a dozen at most) who appeared:

- The lack of utilizing Ravelry – a worldwide social network for knitters, crocheters, and weavers.
It seems that a particular publishing company dislikes its knitting authors to be on Ravelry. This publishing company feels that the authors would be wasting time and should be writing books, even if there is a group dedicated to specific authors. Because of this break in communication between the author and the readers, the author has no way of announcing appearances or news. Lands End had also contacted the owners of Ravelry to promote their charity. Unfortunately, it would not be feasible nor fair to the hundreds of charities that other Ravelry members promote themselves (mine happens to be Sweet Binks Rabbit Rescue). If protocol were followed, the suggestion that Lands End sign up for a Ravelry account would have been made so as a member, Lands End could easily promote themselves by creating their own group or contacting the local groups where their charity drives would be visiting. From my last check, Lands End did not follow that suggestion.

- Publicizing to a group located nowhere near the scheduled events.
Where the events were located is over an hour’s drive from the group base. The Greater Boston Knitting Guild meets in Boston. The events were at Burlington, MA and Natick, MA. Both areas require a long bit of driving, and do not allow easy public transportation. Since only that Boston guild was contacted, only one other guild was shared that news, the MetroWest Guild of which I am a member. How I had learned of the events was through a last-minute e-mail sent a couple of nights before the scheduled dates. It was sent as an “FYI, in case you are interested” type of feel. There was no “Wow! Come help Kate and Vickie knit hats for charity”" excitement. The small amount of notice made it difficult for many to plan on attending. Another note is that Lands End stated they had sent newsletters to its customers asking of any of them knitted to come and participate in the events. I quizzed a number of Massachusetts residents afterwards and not one received such news. Many of them were unhappy at missing the opportunity.

- Ignoring the power of local popular figures and specialty shops to promote the events.
Every town and city has their own respected community rockstars. They are many in New England, particularly Massachusetts, for the knitting world. Designer Kristin Nicholas, Julia Farwell-Clay of Twist Collective, Pam Allen of Classic Elite, Kathy and Steve Elkins of WEBS, Guido Stein of “It’s a Purl, Man” – these folks are just the tip of the iceberg. With the location of the scheduled events, it would have been more lucrative to include nearby New Hampshire and Rhode Island. This fibery network of community rockstars do connect with one another, and could have helped Lands End promote the charity events. By not including the local yarn shops and stores, Lands End failed to spread the word effectively, particularly in the locations where the events were scheduled.

I sometimes find myself reflecting on that Saturday when I met the small quiet crowd who came to the event. I always end up shaking my head in disbelief on the lack of the numbers that could have been. Since that day, I noticed that Kate is now on Twitter (another network she was told not to participate), and I wonder if it is really her or her publisher. (Update 2009-11-19: I was informed that it definitely is not her publisher, but I still think that the Tweets sound like hollow marketing.) I am just glad that Vickie is the real deal online, and that contacting her results in genuine responses. =:8

It has been some time since I wrote from the heart. My thoughts and feelings have been hidden for a reason, but now is the time to share some of them with everybunny. Many big changes have been occurring, and finally a decision has been made.

Though it has been almost two months, I deeply feel that Podcamp Boston helped this decision. That weekend taught me how to communicate my views more succinctly to those who were not in the same business. It taught me that consumers prefer to buy from a person of trust, rather than one with cheaply discounted goods. The various sessions and presentations which brought out different personalities had one goal: to share information freely and without judgment of other folks’ opinions. I realized that most of what I learned at Podcamp I had already done in the knitting world, and I wanted to transition that knowledge into the world of ITIL.

During the whole process of being let go in January, I promised myself that if I did not find a job by my 40th birthday in November, I would move to Blacksburg and go back to school. After a good kick in the pants from a former friend’s harsh words, my sense of being was awakened by embarrassment. His words brought out a realization: There may also be a hidden reason why I have not been able to find work in New England and the Midwest. My inner vibrations were not allowing me to sway from the true desire in my heart.

After a heart-to-heart talk with my friend Jan Anderson on September 24th, I realized that as passionate I was about knitting (particularly of knitted fabric as a structural material), those emotions began when I worked at The Corporation with their products of 3-phase electrical power. It was only when I was denied the ability to release that passion into my job that I directed those feelings into my hobby.

As a result of listening my inner vibrations, I shall be back in Virginia Tech for school. On the morning of November 1st, I am coming home to Blacksburg with 2 of the bunnies, Caesar and Julius. I shall be doing what I can to find work and also to establish residency in my home state.

Ten years ago, I would have never found the moxie to pick up and move. I was always terrified of being abandoned and alone. The past few years have proven differently. Because of the friends and ties that I made from knitting (maybe I should have used “joins” or “knots” instead of ties?) and the internet, I will never be alone again. Not only am I grateful for everybunny I have met, but I always will appreciate each message, each RAK, and each hug I receive.

I take this time now to thank everybunny for all of the support given to me. Even if I may be late on my posts, I will be here to share my crazy life’s adventures. Here is the quote that I have been following since my awakening in January 2009: “Live one day at a time and make it a masterpiece.” Why? Because in my humble opinion, nothing beats having passion for our short lives. =:8

Recently the LinkedIn and Facebook pages of the “Providence Geek Dinner for Wednesday, September 23rd” caught my eye. After attending social media events in Boston, it was high time for me to check out what was in Rhode Island. Curious, I reviewed the attendees and recognized some friendly names. Hmmm… I thought, “What the heck, why not go? Maybe I could find a connection to a job.” Not sure what to expect, I dressed comfortably in “office” attire. Knowing that first impressions last forever, I wanted to look polished, but not stiff. Taking deep breaths, I drove downtown to Trinity Brewhouse to see what awaited.

After popping into Trinity, I quickly spotted my friend Sara Streeter. This social media savvy guru and I met during Podcamp Boston last August. Of course I was pleased to discover that she is also a fellow knitter. If I failed to recognize anybunny else, I apologize. The downstairs area of Trinity Brewhouse is quite dark, and if folks did not approach me, I obviously was not able to converse if I could not see them.

The company featured in that night’s presentation was Simulia. This software company specializes in third dimensional graphics, and I was smitten with their work. All I kept asking in my head was what did I need to do to work for them. Their ties into industrial engineering kept me mesmerized, that is, until my stomach reminded me to get food into my body.

Note, I love bacon cheeseburgers, particularly those with only lettuce, tomato, mustard and ketchup. For the cheese, cheddar is my preference, but I love smoked Gouda too. From seeing the photo above, Trinity Brewhouse has a nicely sized option. Seated at the bar, I was gobbling down that and one of their heavier beers, the Russian Imperial Stout, when I recognized the man standing on my immediate right. “Hello, Mr. Cicilline,” I greeted the Mayor of Providence, “How are you? I had no idea you were into the Providence Geek Dinners. Are you into technology?” We ended up chatting for a bit, and I shared how I was in IT and QA. I had figured that attending the evening’s event was a good way to find a job. We later closed our conversation, and I felt it was a comfortable one. Minutes later, I saw him again, but this time with another gentleman. “Kimberly, I would like to introduce to you James. James, this is Kimberly. Kimberly is looking for a job.” Thanks to the mayor, I met the recruitment team of Bridge Technical Solutions. Now, I still do not have a job, but at least that is a start.

So moral of the story? If one is given a chance to network, do so because whoever one meets there can help. If one’s stomach tells you it is time to eat, do it because look what happened to mine! =:8

On the clear Thursday night of September 17th, I attended what could be described as three hours of brain teasing at Boston’s Stone & Webster Building on the fourteenth floor of 245 Summer Street. This “Ignite Boston” event was sponsored by O’Reilly Publishing and Fidelity Center for Applied Technology (known in many circles as FCAT). The format of presentations applied the rule of so many slides at so many seconds each was a challenge that every presenter took with ease and polish. Here are a few highlights that caught my attention.

• Opening speaker Glenn Ezra (a professor from MIT) discussed Jane Jacobs’ book “The Failure of City Planning.” He described how in larger societies, a small council of folks still control which resources people accessed in the communities, towns, and cities. There was one quote which stuck in my head: “Specialists don’t know; the PEOPLE know.” Methinks the people need to help President Obama pass the health care reform.
• Clay Ward spoke about his Procrasdonate company, which turns the free time spent at work for browsing about on the internet into donated money for charity. This company definitely piqued my interested for Sweet Binks Rabbit Rescue
• Josh Robins had me as soon as he brought up the words “shared data” into the presentation. The fact that Massachusetts Department of Transportation was offering up their information for others to use in their programs shows foresight into the future.
• Dan Keldsen brought up the point that I have always believed: using the correct tools allows innovation, creativity, and workability. In my respect tools are not only something physical to hold in the hands, but giving the knowledge to those in need of it is detrimental in the workplace.
• Jeff Potter presented his upcoming book “Cooking for Geeks” in which he demonstrated how each of us varies from being a super-taster to a non-taster thanks to our genetics.

(sigh) So many presenters, so little time… Besides seeing my friend Guido Stein of “It’s a Purl, Man” fame, I met the interesting Wendy Walsh who is part of the Women Geeks of Boston. We were sitting next to each other during the speed technology dating spree. It turns out that she is a web developer and we definitely enjoyed discussing our love for technology. Here’s hoping we see each other soon! =:8

As I sat in my car to leave KFC’s parking lot, I looked at the oncoming flood of traffic. Needing to make a left-hand turn to go home, it dawned on me. “Why not make a right-hand turn and take an alternate way? It might be a little longer in distance, or even longer in time, but I would not have to sit here and dawdle, which then makes me seethe, and then stresses me out. I mean, just why not?” So I did.

Seeing this approach, I immediately matched the similarity to my own life. I am so dependent and focused on finding a job in order to get my life on track, that I have failed to question why not do something else. Why not go ahead and start turning the wheels elsewhere? Why not piece the puzzle in the central section instead of starting with all the edges? Why should I wait for that left-hand turn when traffic is obviously heavy and will not ebb anytime soon?

With renewed purpose, I am going ahead and doing what I need to do in order to move on with my life by continuing without that left-hand turn. If it turns out that I do land a job which does not allow any kind of commute from my house, I will address the left-hand turn when it happens. Meanwhile I have given myself an initial 10 days to address the following:

• Re-writing my “About Me” page to include my job interests and career passions
• Ramping up my knowledge of the CISA examination questions
• Contacting and networking more with folks with the same career goals
• Revamping my exercise routine to include weight lifting
• Jotting down the recipes which I have created since my Type 2 diagnosis
• Diabetes check up at the Hallett Center
• Getting my personal home projects in order

One close friend stated to me after I told him of my epiphany, “Right now you have time to get so many things done that you will not have when you do find that job. You should do as much as you can as if you are going to start working next week.” By gosh, my friend Jason is right! =:8

Ironically, this entry almost became a podcast. I used my iPhone’s Voice Memos application to create the draft. After hearing myself speak on the recording, I toyed with the idea of uploading whatever audio notes I used for future written posts. Would it be good to include the audio, or would having the final blog entry be enough? Of course that would mean I need to figure out how to export the audio…

This past weekend, I was supposed to be at the first ever Sock Summit in Portland, OR. Sadly, due to poor timing and limited funds on my part, I missed my chance of buying the plane tickets to Seattle. While wallowing in the misery of not going to the biggest sock-knitting bash ever (IMHO) and not seeing my cousin’s family in Sunriver, my friend Guido Stein of the “It’s a Purl, Man” fame contacted me on Thursday. He suggested that I attend the Podcamp Boston conference which was the same weekend at the University of Massachusett’s Boston campus. I blew off his words at first, and checked my calendar for the weekend. Hmm… Looks like there is the Spa-like event WOOL… But then driving up north was not appealing to my tired knitting mojo and brain-dead blog.

“Podcamp? I am not a podcaster. Why on earth should I go?” Those thoughts rang in my head until I scanned the notes of what Podcamp entailed. It was not only podcasts which were discussed, but also the various types of social networking and how all can be used in marketing, distributing, and sharing information. Reflecting on the fact that I would have to be up early to commute to Boston, which meant Rich would be have to be up early to take me, I decided to embed myself into the conference by staying over both Friday and Saturday nights at the recommended Doubletree Hotel. Using cousin Tess’ trick of Priceline, I scored a room for both nights. In my suitcase, I packed up my “Little Parade” shawl project and favorite notepad in case my crestfallen heart stumbled across my lost knitting and blogging mojo.

Taking the commuter rail into Boston’s South Station, I reviewed what was in store for me, and decided to treat the experience as one of discovery. The topics covered in the conference schedule ranged from Guido’s “How Do you Start This Podcasting Thing?” to Renee Hopkins’ “What’s the Value of Social Media for B2B Companies?” Impromptu sessions were also encouraged, and the “Law of Two Feet” was firmly implanted. To explain in a nutshell, the “Law of Two Feet” allows a person who is not getting the most of a session to walk out of it. So if the session one popped into turned out the opposite of what was expected, it is more than okay to leave for answers elsewhere.

Saturday brought some awesome insight to why I was here. Though when I arrived, Guido asked if I could help by downloading an application on my iPhone. Wanting to help, I downloaded Moby, and notified him when it was done. Guido’s response? “Great!! We need you to walk up to folks and take their photograph. The pictures will be posted up on the #PCB4 wall.” I replied, “Sure thing Guido!” but in my head I was thinking, “Am I going MAD? I have no idea who these people are!!” Of course I did as asked and managed to grab some folks as guinea pigs. Later, the sessions kind of distracted me from my assigned task… Oops!

During my years of blogging in the knitting and house rabbit genres, I had thought about doing the same in my fields of datacenter and software QA knowledge, but was unsure of my approach. By applying the suggestions from “How Do you Craft a Compelling Story through Podcasting?” by Jeremy Meyers, I saw that my own blog-writing could be tweaked and primed to reach audiences besides my fellow knitters and house rabbit lovers. Guido’s session of “How Do you Start this Podcasting Thing?” brought up ideas that I had not thought of in my writing style. I do not want to drone about further details on Podcamp, but will sum it up as this:

Podcamp (#pcb4) made me realize that social media is a communication tool in which wielded correctly, is a very powerful sword that cuts through old-fashioned minds with “out of the box” thinking. Podcamp also showed me how intertwined I was in the Ravelry social network, that there are many other networks with just as dedicated followers, and how our experiences should be shared so that other groups could learn from the community of online knitters/crafters.

I spoke with a ton of folks over the weekend, and I hope to learn more by following them in their respective mediums of communication:
@GuidoS, @shersteve @johnblue, @gradontripp, @DougH, @WayneNH, @jeffhinz, @chelpixie, @cspenn, @LDpodcast, @TheMarketingGuy, @SarahPrevette, @erin_bury, @MichaelCantone, @johnhaydon, @lexiconsystems, @chrisabraham, @mickdarling, @JimPeake, @AnnKingman, @GenniK, @saranicole, @stacyreck, @LisaJohnson, @janbabson, and @HPak to start…

Many thanks to all that I met. The time and money spent during this weekend was worth every second and minute. My mojo is back in full swing, and I have become inspired once again to knit and write. The warmed chocolate chip cookies did not hurt either. I hope to be discussing in a future Podcamp the topic of niche social networks and how their hierarchy functions – maybe in October at Philadelphia or New Hampshire? Time will tell! Until then, feel free to check out the names I listed above, and the photos that I posted on Flickr with the “pcb4” and “podcamp” tags. =:8