Posts tagged ‘Facebook’

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

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

Thanks Ashley for tagging me. Hope everybunny enjoys my answers! =:8

If you’ve been tagged or you are reading this, you have the honor of copying all these goofy questions, writing your own response, and tagging 25 other victims. You have to tag me so really you just need 24 more people. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your title as “Getting to know each other!”, tag 25 people including me (tagging is done in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.

1. What time did you get up this morning?
About 6

2. How do you like your steak?
Bloody

3. What was the last movie you saw at the theater?
Up

4. What is your favorite TV show?
Besides sports-related, “Star Trek” and history-related shows? I guess “Murder, She Wrote” would be it.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Tough one. Toss up between the Java Sea region and Western Europe.

6. What did you have for breakfast?
I am making egg-white blintzes filled with blue cheese and pear.

7. What is your favorite cuisine?
Internationally influenced bistro fare.

8. What foods do you dislike?
Anything that repulses my taste buds (ie, not much).

9. Favorite Place to Eat?
As long as I am with my favorite guy, I am hoppy

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive?
I have two: Honda Civic and an antique Ford Mustang

12. What are your favorite clothes?
Plain tee/blouse and skirt

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
Every single MLB baseball park and football stadium

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
Depends on my mood

15. Where would you want to retire?
Somewhere warm or temperate year round

16. Favorite time of day?
Early morning

17. Where were you born?
US Naval Hospital on Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Depends on the season and time of day

19. Who do you think will NOT tag you back?
I do not want to be tagged back.

20. Person you expect to tag you back first?
No idea at this time

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
Everyone

22. Bird watcher?
Only if one comes into view — lately the cardinal family in my shrubs.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Morning — and I am one of those hoppy cheery ones too, so watch out!

24. Do you have any pets?
4 houserabbits (and do husbands count?)

25. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share?
Not yet, but hopefully soon!

27. What is your best childhood memory?
Too many to list

28. Are you a cat or dog person?
I adore big dogs

29. Are you married?
Yes

30. Always wear your seat belt?
Always!

31. Been in a car accident?
Oh yes.

32. Any pet peeves?
Many, but I generally hold stuff back to give somebunny a chance

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings?
Cheese, especially feta

34. Favorite Flower?
Lavender “sterling silver” roses

35. Favorite ice cream?
Chocolate with toffee

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Hardees (sigh, I miss it!!)

37. How many times did you fail your driver’s test?
Once — when my VA driver’s license expired and I forgot to renew it, I had to take the new test being issued and did not realize they REALLY changed it!!

38. From whom did you get your last email?
MLB.com

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Max? The idea makes me shudder.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
Went to the Red Sox game at Fenway last Wednesday

41. Happy with your job?
I am patiently waiting for a full-time paying job.

42. Broccoli?
Sauteed with olive oil, garlic, lemon, salt, and coarsely ground pepper

43. What was your favorite vacation?
Where I do not have to feel rushed

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
M. Tess, my cousin visiting from CT

45. What are you listening to right now?
Birds chirping

46. What is your favorite color?
Anything but neon ones, though lately burnt orange

47. How many tattoos do you have?
None — yet!

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?
None

49. What time did you finish this quiz? 07:15

50. Coffee Drinker?
Occasionally

I have been dwelling on what topics to discuss for months, and how to write out the thoughts that appear in my head. Sure I could report on the woolly gatherings and adventures, yet sometimes I want to write something from the heart. Recently a friend had forwarded a quote to me by Abraham-Hicks Publications. Intrigued, I immediately signed up for the daily quote which is e-mailed. The following quote is from Abraham during a workshop held in Spokane, WA on Wednesday, July 7th, 1999. Its words beautifully state what I have been feeling inside for quite some time:

“Inspiration comes forth from within. It’s what the light burning within you is about, as opposed to motivation, which is doing it because if you don’t do it, there will be negative repercussions. Motivation is making myself do something that I don’t really want to do. Inspiration is having the clear picture of what I am wanting — and letting Universal forces come into play to get the outcome.”

There have been incidents which affected my decisions of what I needed and wanted. I had been so stressed out, that in order to relieve the pain I bought close to a ton of yarn and various other things. I did not always want the items presented. Rather, I needed to purchase them because I felt like buying said objects would make me feel better. The need to purchase created a greed for certain items. Before long, my acquiring was out of control and a new stress came about on how I was going to store my “pretties” that I needed around myself to feel mentally better. I had no desire to maintain my home or myself. I ended up with half-done tasks, high cholesterol, and Type 2 diabetes.

The news of my health results on February 5th this year kicked me in the pants. I made the decision that I did not want to be diabetic and that I was going to beat the disease. The want and desire not to be dependent on medication drove me to change my diet radically — no white sugar, white flour, or white pasta; no milk, butter, or eggs. I finally joined a gym, but am not working out like I should. However, by changing my diet, I dropped from that initial A1C of 11.9 to 8.0 and I am proud of that.

Then a light bulb switched in my head about the rest of my acquisitions and behavior. The questions “Do I really WANT all of this yarn? Do I really WANT all of these tools and books? Do I really WANT all of these clothes and shoes?” plugged at me. Finally the real questions, “Why am I holding on to these items? Why do I think I need them? Why can I not do the tasks I set myself to do?” I realized that I had to let go of the items that presented negative energy to my well-being.

I began by purging various items beginning with the 260 groups that I was part of in Ravelry. I asked myself if I was in those groups “just to have” or was I going to participate fully. After removing myself from over 100 groups (hey now, I am still working on that purge!), I looked into the yarn stash and I was stunned. I had never seriously considered how much yarn was in my possession. There was no way I could ever knit all of that delicious fibery goodness before I died. I started a set of destashes, and I felt incredible. In fact purging the yarn bought because I was unhappy was like a release of tension — the rubber band that was drawn tightly to the point of being broken is slowly coming back to its original relaxed shape.

Happy with these latest findings, I began wanting to work in my flower bed again. I also have bought yarn, but now the pretties are items that I truly want to use — not just because I am feeling sad and need a “fix” to feel better. I travel and see friends when I can, and no longer drone about being a lifeless homebody. The feeling of self-improvement continues to grow, and I want more of it! Here is hoping that by late November (my 40th birthday) that I get my wants and desires. =:8

Yes, I know I am overdue on writing a number of posts, but just a little bit more time is needed to finish a couple of projects running in the background. I think the wait will be worth it!

——————————————————
*From Nikki’s Facebook Note*

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me.

This offer does have some restrictions so please read carefully:

- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
- What I create will be just for YOU.
- I will make it this year (2009).
- I will make something in the real world, not a figment of the internet.
- I may bake a batch of cookies, knit you a hat, sew you something or write you a poem ~ who knows?
- Photos will be posted in a group TBA of the giving and getting

In return, all you need to do is post this text into a note of your own and make 5 things for 5 other people.

Make sure to comment here that you are interested in my little gifty and tag me in your note.

Void where prohibited, use only as directed, for a limited time only, store in a cool dry place.

Let’s keep it going!