What a way to Pay It Forward people! Over 80 positive karma creators showed up at The Local Vine Thursday night to contribute to the network effect created when a group of well-intentioned people gather to create some good karma and actually offer help to each other first.

I owe some serious gratitude to Karin Zabel, the new head of the networking team at the PSAMA (she took over for me in Aug), for being the brain child behind combing the forces of PIF Parties with the reach of the Seattle-area American Marketing Association. Thanks again Karin! I’ll definitely be on the lookout for other opportunities to co-host similar PIF-style events during the months to come.

And, while we did manage to sell a few copies of my new book (I’m at a Networking Event–Now What???), the real “win” of the evening was hearing the constant hum of the group learning what other people were working on and what kind of help they needed right now.

All I can think is, what a great way to go into the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and even found these Seven Tips for Networking Through the Holidays from Keith Ferrazzi as a great reminder for us all. Happy Turkey Day!!

Baratunde Thurston spoke at a Web 2.0 convention recently about the use of hashtags on Twitter. Baratunde is a standup comedian who works for The Onion and is a twitter genius. You will see in the video he has started joke twitter accounts and developed followings for each of 2000+ in two weeks through the brilliant use of hashtags.

If you don’t know – hashtags in twitter are the things you see with the pound sign before them (i.e. #swineflu, #howblackareyou, etc.). Hashtags connect you with people who don’t follow you. Search a hashtag in Twitter search and you will stumble upon thousands of conversations, you may want to jump in.

Deeper Meaning

What interested me most about Baratunde’s talk was this use of “crowdsourcing” information. Using hashtags to tap into the ideas of the crowd. It’s a way to start a conversation in 140 characters or less. This is an opportunity for you to tap into the masses and see what they have to say.

Experiment

Create a hasthag for yourself and start the conversation around it. See what kind of response you get back. Make it a question or a bold statement and hashtag it frequently. As the conversation grows it will breath a human aspect into your brand 140 characters at a time.

Watch the video, try it for yourself, tell me how it goes. Mention me – I will jump into the conversation! @jakelarson.

Pay’s Adventures in Brazil.

(Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Florianopolis)

Pay got the opportunity to tag along on Chingy’s tour in Brazil. Although she had expected to run into more hip hop/music related stuff in Brazil, this became a more personal review on the experience of touring with an artist, in Brazil. Being around an artist like Chingy and his entourage, and experiencing the first time being in Brazil came together in the following read.

October 13, 2009

Friday October 9^th it’s the day I am flying to Brazil. It’s my first time going to South America really. I had to get up at 4 am, way too early for me but I was still excited to go. Mostly cause I get to see my best friend in the whole galaxy again, after so many years. Although we speak on the regular on the phone or online, I’ve missed being around him. He has been the biggest positive force in my life for the past decade. I’m not even sure if I would still be around if it wasn’t for him. He has always been there for me and helped me through a lot of difficult situations in my life.

Anyway, I’m off to Paris cause I have a layover there. I hate layovers but this was the cheapest ticket. (Hey, it’s a recession lol) Charles de Gaulle airport is the first airport I sorta got lost. With all the flying I do, that’s nuts really. The arrows on the signs in that airport point to the wrong direction. Normally if you have to go straight ahead, the arrow points up. At Charles de Gaulle they point down. So I kept thinking I had to go back, the other way. And I don’t seem to be the only one that had problems with that. My girl Fyza told me she had the same thing when she was flying through that airport lol.

When I arrive at the right gate, I don’t have to wait long to board. The flight is on time. Off to Brazil! The flight is about 12 hours. Even though the fight is pretty full booked, I manage to get an aisle seat when I originally had a seat between two people. Flying Air France is pretty ok. Decent food and ice cream and candy as much as you can eat. Haagen Dasz that is, shit was good!

When I get to Rio de Janeiro the weather is really bad. Nope, not the sunny beach and fine women and carnival country we all know it for. It’s raining worse than cats and dogs. It’s rain storming so bad, the plane couldn’t land at first. Rio de Janeiro airport is the easiest I’ve ever been through. Within literally 10 minutes I’m already outside. Immigration just smiled and stamped my passport and customs just took the forms from me without even looking at them. Suitcase was out already also and BAM, I was standing in the hall of Rio’s airport. Peterson, the driver that came to pick me up was there with a sign saying PAY. I had a BLAST with Peterson, simply cause he didn’t speak a word English and I don’t speak a word Portuguese haha!

Traffic was really bad. It was dark outside already and still raining really bad so I couldn’t really see anything of Rio yet. We ended up being stuck in traffic for 3 hours. 1/4^th of my flight over here. But like I said, I had mad fun trying to hold a conversation with Peterson, we were mixing up English, Portuguese, Spanish, hands and feet. And somehow we managed to understand each other enough to actually talk about things. I did take a nap in the van cause I barely slept on the plane or at home the night before.

9 pm I wake up thinking “Damn are we still driving?” but a few minutes after I woke up, Peterson turns around to let me know we finally got to the hotel. With my ass all fucked up, I stumble into the hotel to let them know I’m there. As I sit down in the lobby, Efrem walks up to me. Its like one of them long lost and found-reunions you see in the movies. Oh what good it felt to see him and hug him again. =)

Once I get to the room and saw my bed I just had to take a nap before the show that night. Efrem had to go meet some fans or something with Chingy so I had time to rest. For those that don’t know, I came to Brazil for Efrem’s birthday. But during that time, Efrem put together a tour for Chingy, the artist. No I’m not his biggest fan, nor do I really care for his music like that but the tour is there so I am tagging along. More so cause of Ef than anything else. Side note: I met Chingy a few years ago already in London on the Ludacris show, where I was with Efrem as well and a day later in Amsterdam where Benny and I had an interview with him for Royal Radio.

At 1.30 we take off for the show. I met all the people once we get downstairs where we all had to hop in the two vans to go. Nobody over here speaks English so even talking to Efrem’s friends and people he works with, is really a challenge. We get to the club in Rio, The Week. Pretty nice club, it was packed outside the venue already. I really felt like a tourist with NO knowledge of the language. We get to the small ass VIP section a little above the side of the stage. The show was pretty cool, I filmed parts of it. After the show it was the typical “groupies trying to get to the artist-stuff”. I’m tired as hell, pretty much ready to go. But as I was sitting there watching the Brazilian club scene, I felt disappointed in the women. With all the stories and all the things my homies say about the women down here, there literally was not ONE fine ass woman that I seen in the club. I was sitting there with DJ Sno and Rich Money. Rich was saying the same thing about the women. It was his first time in Brazil as well so he had the same high expectations that I had. Nonetheless the women were all over them of course.

We were supposed to have a 6 am flight to Sao Paulo but Chingy and the guys had so much fun, we of course missed the flight. Now we had to take a bus ride to Sao Paulo which would take about 4 or 5 hours, so we were told. We had a mini bus and left at 11 am from Rio to Sao Paulo. That morning in daylight, I saw that our hotel was right on the beach really, but the skies were dark grey and it was misty from the bad rain so it looked nothing like the Brazil we know from movies and videos and all.

I still didn’t get any sleep. Maybe one hour from the time we got back in the hotel til we had to get up and leave. I figured I can get some hours in on the bus. I now could really relate to the life of an artist with this running around, partying and getting no sleep. But once I got on the bus, I wanted to see the country. I mean, how many times will I get to be on a road trip from Rio to Sao Paulo and catch the scenery? Seeing the slums and the really poor houses (half way built and lots of aluminum), was pretty real. It was also still raining really bad. Although the sky cleared up as we drove further south.

Everybody on the bus was knocked out, except for DJ Sno and me. We were choppin’ it up about the music business, radio and all kinds of things. Then later on I just put my ipod on and was relaxing with music while looking outside my window. After a few hours we stop for food and all, which was the first meal I had since 3 pm that day before, on the plane! We all know Pay NEEDS food. So I was happy lol. It seemed the driver is driving mad slow so it was gonna take a lot more hours to get to Sao Paulo. Once we ate, the guys were up and were wildin’ out on the bus lol. I can definitely say I had a LOT of fun and laughs with these cats. They are fun people to be around so I didn’t mind tagging along on this tour. Big Country, Chingy’s security guy is hilarious! He started doing the jerk on the bus hahaha! I got some of that on tape, hehe.

Seeing the drive took too long and Chingy had to be at some radio station for promo, they arranged for a car in the next city we go through, to pick Chingy and Country up so they can speed over to the radio station instead of being on that damn slow bus we on. Fast forward, we finally arrive in Sao Paulo, its dark outside again already. We spent the whole damn day on the bus. Even within Sao Paulo, with the bad traffic and all, again, it took us another 2 hours or so to get to the hotel. We passed a McDonalds right before we get to the hotel so we all decided to go there once we dump our stuff in the rooms. So we did. Most of us went to go there for food, but found out that McDonalds was closed already by that time. Nana, Efrem’s assistant, who lives in Sao Paulo as well, tells us there’s another one a few blocks away. We all agree to walk over there. It was sightseeing for me. The big strip reminded me of walking in Manhattan with all the big buildings and all. Sao Paulo looked very modern to me in comparison to the little I had seen of Rio de Janeiro.

When I get back to my room later on, I was so messed up from all the traveling I been doing the past 2 days and the crazy lack of sleep, I laid down in the bed and just wanted to sleep. The guys all wanted to go to the club and as much as I wanted to see the nightlife of Sao Paulo, I went to sleep.

The next day its Sunday, mind you, I had no clue what time, day or even year it was at that point lol. I still didn’t get much sleep, maybe only 3 hours or so. But it was a good 3 hours. Ef ordered breakfast for me through room service, that shit was GOOD. And guess what? I saw the SUN out! When we got to Sao Paulo the night before, it was still raining, it stopped raining later at night but it was pretty cold too.

Anyway, I called Nana to see if she wanted to go to the stores with me, I had seen some stuff the night before when we walked to McDonalds. It was SO nice outside, finally I felt like I was on vacation. After we went to the store, Nana suggested to lay out at the pool and of course I was down with that. We got some sun in! Just an hour or so maybe cause the sun out here is really dangerous in the afternoon hours, doctors advise not to lay out in the middle of the afternoon.

Tony Touch had also arrived that morning. In the evening we went to sound check with all of them. I met DJ Cia from Brazil, who I have attempted to talk to online a few times already. Again, this went with hands and feet when we met in person but we understood each other. Really nice guy and a dope ass DJ too. When we get to the venue, Tony wants to find some food. Nana, Tony and me find a McDonalds ha! Americans I tell ya, McDonalds is the first thing they eat when abroad lol. We go back in the venue where Chingy is still doing sound check. Once they saw the MickeyD’s bags of course they wanted some as well. I got some funny behind the scene footage from the sound check. =)

The show that night was ok. I recorded a lot. Tony definitely did his thing. The VIP section that night was ridiculous after the show. The groupie action in there was by far one of the most horrible I’ve seen in my life. It was like watching National Geographic Channel. “Groupies in their natural habitat”. I was sitting there with my bottle of water just observing and being entertained. Til it got too much for me. The chicks just leaning over the fence to the VIP, hanging over my head, spitting, reaching for Chingy, yelling shit in Portuguese, nah man, I was ready to be out. I even had to save Les (Chingy’s manager) and Chingy from this crazy chick that kept bothering them. Luckily we came with two vans, and those who were ready to go back to the hotel were able to just leave with one of the vans. DJ Sno, Tony Touch, Soni, Nana, D and me went back. We were talking about music, house music and all that on the way back, sparkled by Tony’s event in NY that took place that night as well.

When we got back to the hotel, Tony was like, lets hang out and chill in my room, so we went there to hang out, mind you its like 5.30 am already. I was mad hungry so I ordered breakfast. But before it arrived people got sleepy and went back to their rooms, so I went back to my own room to wait for the breakfast. Then the others seemed to have arrived back in the hotel. Calling the room asking where Ef was. Ef didn’t come back yet, he was still at the venue taking care of business. I hear groupies screaming in the hallway, Chingy and Rich got attacked by them or something. Attacked in a good way I guess. (Ef and I are on the same floor as them.) It was a crazy situation. While I’m still up, waiting for my breakfast, Les called and he came up to hang out with me while I was waiting. Finally breakfast came and we’re still choppin’ it up. We just yapping the morning away til I had to cut it off cause sleep was necessary. I ended up going to sleep at 8 am. I heard Ef get back at some point but I was too sleepy to even really notice it.

A few hours later I’m up already. Its 11.30 am. Why I don’t know. I was supposed to go to the pool again with Nana but its real cloudy outside so I stay in the bed. At some point, it started raining and hailing really bad. Even to the point where one of the guys said it was snow. I didn’t open the curtains to look outside but it was madness against the windows on the 16^th floor. I stayed in the bed watching movies while Ef is trying to work and catch sleep in between. Around 4 pm I decide to go get food outside. It’s still raining but not that bad anymore. Les and I go to Subway to get sandwiches. Ordering when not speaking Portuguese can make some funny situations but she got our subs right. We stop by the local supermarket to stash up on snacks and head back to the hotel. After I ate my sub, we watched an episode of CSI and I fall asleep again. I wake up at 8 pm, not knowing where the hell I am. I finally realize I’m in Brazil, in a hotel, in Les’ room. Les is still sleeping though. I’m like maaaan, that was Monday LOL. Earlier we decided that we wanted go bowling but seeing it’s a holiday in Brazil this Monday, the 2 alleys we found over here were closing early already.

I leave Les sleeping and go to my own room and get online to check my emails and stuff while Efrem, Chingy and Country are in the seating room “chasing a black dress” (a girl that was at the club the night before). Unfortunately I found out a friend of mine passed away, that kinda threw me off and upset me. Thankfully I got a hold of my other friend on the phone, to find out what happened. I decided to just go back in the bed, watch some movies on TV and call it a day. The passing of my friend triggered thoughts of how much I hate being so far from loved ones and don’t get to spend the time I wanna spend, with them. I’ll be ok though, if anything, it makes me appreciate the time I have here with Efrem even more.

It’s Tuesday right now. Tomorrow is Efrem’s birthday. J. Rawls just landed in Sao Paulo and is on his way to the hotel. I’m sitting here typing away. The birthday party/event we had for tonight is canceled. Due to some business stuff that’s going on. As much as I was looking forward to the party tonight, which was really the main reason I came out here, for Efrem’s party, I understand how the business works. And I just wanna spend time with my best friend, that’s all that matters right now.

I have 3 days left, seeing I fly back home on Friday. Time flies. I will write more later when I get a minute again. Now I’m waiting on J to get here and figure out what to do today. We fly out tomorrow to Floripa (Florianopolis). Maybe we can go bowling tonight, who knows. I’ll wait til Les is up and see what’s up. (–12 pm)

October 18, 2009

I ended up going to Starbucks with Les to get some hot chocolate. Yes, hot chocolate, in Sao Paulo Brazil. It was chilly outside and still mad cloudy. Thank God it wasn’t still raining. I still can’t believe I went to Starbucks to get hot chocolate. But again, the weather is not really summer weather, keep in mind, it’s spring in Brazil this time of year. After we went to Starbucks, we walked down the street to Domino’s to order pizza. Now this was hilarious. I got this on video too. Don’t ask me why we hit up all the American spots, but in the streets where our hotel is located, we really can’t find any real Brazilian food spots. Plus I didn’t have the energy to go look for them either.

Later that evening I find myself being bored in the hotel room again. We wanted to go bowling this night but for some reason we were all slow and late so I figured, another evening spent in the room. Pretty stupid seeing I wanted to go out and see Sao Paulo. Around midnight Nana calls the room and tells me they’re having a surprise for Efrem downstairs in the lobby so my sleepy ass goes downstairs. Everybody is already sitting there and they bring out a cake and sing happy birthday in Portuguese.

Right at the moment we are all done singing, someone walks up in the “party”. It’s Herbie Hancock out of all people! Herbie Hancock is staying at the same hotel! So suddenly everybody was all up and excited. People tweeting about it at the same time (J.Rawls, me, Tony Touch and Soni) and snapping pics left and right with Herbie. That was awesome. From all the places in the world, I’m in Sao Paulo, running into Herbie Hancock. That’s definitely a night to remember. Plus that was a real big surprise for Efrem on his birthday.

There were also some Portuguese groupies from the other night at the venue, I wasn’t really trying to be in that situation but Efrem had fun on his birthday. So I figured, let him have his fun with the people, drinking and partying with the guys and the girls. Les and me just went back up to watch TV shows he downloaded. (CSI, House, Family Guy) Aint that something huh?

The next morning I wake up around 9 am, still in Les room. We are leaving that day to go to Florianopolis (Floripa). I go back to my own room and find Efrem there, awake as hell, with one of them chicks. Just chilling in the seating area. Lord did he give me the 411 on what happened that night. From the three girls that came to the hotel, one left at night and the other two were fighting over Rich and the one that was still in our room decided that dude wasn’t worth it so she got back over to our room to kick it with Efrem. (She was the first to put dips on Rich but her friend didn’t care and went for him as well LOL) I told the girl she shoulda left her girl here and shoulda gone home. Any girl that chooses a dude that you don’t know from a hole in the wall and probably never will see or talk to again, over your years of friendship, is NOT a friend.

After I shower and packed, I call Les to go downstairs for breakfast. Efrem joins us later and tells me the girl took my advice and bounced haha! Man that shit is hilarious. It’s like living in a reality show or something. And I didn’t even get into THAT much detail when it comes to these chicks. Efrem goes to run some errands and Les goes back to his room to pack and all. When I get upstairs to my room, the front desk calls me that there’s a woman in front of my door. I open the door and see it’s that trick that was in Rich room all night. She had left her jacket and cell phone in our room in the seating area. I give her her shit and tell her to bounce. But she babbles something in Portuguese that she wanna go in my room, so I show her that everybody is gone. I can tell that she’s asking me where everybody is (meaning her girl). I’m like, aint nobody here waiting for you, you gotta leave ho! And I escort her out the door. I’m like why I gotta throw these ho’s out the hotel? LOL

I go check on J.Rawls seeing we’re leaving and I wanted to chop it up with him before we do, so we hang out for a bit. The van to the airport is at the hotel already at 1 pm. We’re all loading up but then some real shit went down. Our flight is at 3.45 pm. It’s about 40 minutes to the airport. Not calculating bad traffic in there. Now in all the commotion we can’t seem to leave in the van. We hop out and go into several taxis. The police is getting involved and all I see is Efrem yelling mad at the van driver, in Portuguese so I have no idea what that’s all about. In the end it looked like they strong-armed Efrem, he had to pay up before the driver wanted to take us anywhere. We end up leaving at 2.15 pm, to go to the airport, in the van. This was some bullshit for real. EVERYBODY was already in the mind state that we’re going to miss our flight. D, Les, DJ Sno, we were all like, we gonna miss it.

3.15 pm we arrive at Sao Paulo airport, Efrem and Nana rush to the check in desk with all of our passports. We run over there with all the luggage and run to the gates. Man, security is NOTHING in Brazil. We could leave our laptops in our bags, our drinks, all liquids, the whole shabang went through the x-ray machine but not a peep from the security people. Sno even got some weed through lol! We run straight for the gate and slided in the back of the line for boarding. We made it. We were all surprised that we did. Happy though cause it woulda been hell to change all of the tickets.

We arrive in Floripa around 5 pm. What a beautiful, beautiful island it is. And that was without a doubt the smallest airport I’ve ever seen or been to. Once we get out the plane and walk in the little building, within 2 steps you’re at the luggage belt. About 5 steps after that, you’re already out the airport hahaha! Literally! We hop in a van again to go to the hotel. Driving over the island seeing the bay and the sun setting was gorgeous. Beaches, palm trees, but not warm, it was chilly as hell again. Windy too seeing it’s an island. (Florianopolis is further down south from Sao Paulo.)

This is like the “rich, more white people-area”, place to be, in Brazil.

The hotel that the promoter over there initially had booked was MAD small and not do-able so we switch. Back in the van with all our shit. We end up checking into the Sofitel right on the strip including ocean view. 5 minutes from the downtown area, shops and all that. It takes us so long to check in, by the time I get to the room it’s already 8 pm. D, Nana, Les and me decide to go eat at Pizza Hut (yes another American spot –sigh lol). Hey, they had free wireless connection there haha! I tell our waiter Tony aka Maradona (yes the soccer player) that its Les’ birthday (even though it’s not midnight yet). We end up getting a free dessert, a sweet chocolate pizza.

After we eat, I just wanna go sleep. Country, Rich and Brian end up going drinking at the Irish Pub around the corner and end up going to the club, El Divino, which is also the club where the show will be at. I fall asleep in Les room again, watching CSI lol.

The next day, Thursday, it’s my last day in Brazil. I wanna go outside, see things, do stuff, get my tourist on and all. Efrem is working, doing business and I end up going to the mall with Nana, D and DJ Sno. It’s only a few blocks walk from our hotel. That mall was 8 floors and huge. I felt like I was in the States, but everything was very cheap. Not too long after that, we get back to the hotel to hop in the van with everybody for a little tour over the island. The only one that didn’t join us is Rich, he was too hung over to come with us.

This island is BEAUTIFUL. From North to South it’s only 53 kilometers, with 400.000 residents, spread over the city and the beach towns. Our hotel is at the northwest bay. We drive down to the south east bay while Efrem and our driver Geraldo are telling us about the area’s we’re passing through. At the south bay we stop to eat at a famous seafood restaurant. The restaurant is known for all the pieces of paper all over the walls and ceilings. The pieces of paper are written on by every customer that has been there. The food was good and we had a beautiful view on the ocean from inside. It was cold and windy as hell though.

-Let me state that Country is one of the funniest fuckers I ever met. I’m gonna have to talk to him to give him his own show on my website. I swear this dude is TOO much hahaha! Doing the jerk in the bus to Sao Paulo as well as swag surfing in the restaurant in Floripa LOL. I swear I thought he was gonna go cripwalking up in there too!-

That evening when we get back to the hotel, Nana and me go back to a store at the mall where I wanted to buy some more jeans. We also find a hair salon to get our hair done for the party tonight. I figured oh well, its my last night, let’s do it up! Also very funny to go to a hair salon and explaining the stylist how you want your hair, without speaking any Portuguese haha! He ended up doing a great job though.

The show in Floripa was OFF THE CHAIN. The people were wildin’ out and it was packed. After the show, we end up from the stage, which was upstairs, to the VIP area downstairs. Again, it was packed. Hot as hell in there too. DJ Sno was doing his thing! I went crazy when he actually started playing Masta Ace’s Born To Roll! One of my favorite songs EVER. Chingy was hosting away on the mic for three hours straight! I definitely had a blast.

Around 5 pm, I go back to the hotel with Rich, Country, Les and Chingy. The van is supposed to go back to pick up the rest. They didn’t end up coming back til 6 pm. Some troubles at the club with one of the groupies that the security people didn’t let leave. Les calls me to get downstairs for breakfast. I get downstairs and the three girls that annoyed the shit out of me at the club, were in the lobby. Oh, by the way, in Brazil, you can’t just take people (girls) up to your hotel room. You have to pay for them as if they were checking in. It was like that at the hotel in Sao Paulo also.

So the girls stayed in the lobby. These ho/groupie situations are funny but at that moment I was annoyed and tired. One of the girls asked me if I was Portuguese. I wanted to say No Bitch, can’t you see I’m staying at this hotel? (I was wearing my comfy clothes already.) Breakfast finally opens at 6.30 and while I was signing in for breakfast, the hotel chick over there thought I was one of them ho’s also. That pissed me off as well lol. I was practically wearing my PJ’s. I did NOT look like I came straight out the club for these dudes.

Breakfast with Chingy, Brian, Les, Rich and Country is funny as hell. But I was so tired and I had to leave for the airport at noon already. I said my byes and went to sleep. Slept a few hours and then got up, packed my stuff and said bye to D, Nana and Les before the van picked me up. I flew from Floripa to Sao Paulo first, then from Sao Paulo straight home. The rest of them were flying to Rio later that day for the last show in Rio. Once I finally boarded the plane to Amsterdam, I took one of the pills that Les gave me, just to get some good sleep. I had 3 chairs to myself so I laid out and BAM I was out. I slept a full 8 hours on the plane. That was the best sleep I had from the whole time I was in Brazil haha.

In the end, the whole week didn’t go as expected, or as how it should have been going. A lot of business got messed up so we all had to wing it, but despite everything I had a lot of fun. I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to see my best friend again since years and for the fact I got the chance to see Brazil in so many different ways, even though I didn’t really get my sightseeing on. I saw Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Florianopolis, three different sides of Brazil. I also made some great new friends and connections that may be established for life.

Now most of my friends know I’m not Chingy’s biggest fan, nor do I particularly care for his music. But, touring with these guys did show me that it’s not ALWAYS about the music, it’s also about the networking and the people themselves. They are all great guys, each and every single one of them. They are open, friendly, HILARIOUS, cool and nice. Never once did I feel out of place there, seeing I wasn’t really part of the entourage, I was just tagging along. I respect Chingy for what he does even though his music type isn’t really my taste. I did end up bouncing along to the songs at the show in Floripa, I mean it’s poppy and people do like it. Lol.

Shout outs to all the people I’ve met and hung out with in Brazil. Peterson, Paulo, Thais, Brian, Nana, Demetrius, Les, Big Country, Rich Money, Chingy, Tony Touch, Soni, Geraldo, DJ Cia, and whoever I forgot. Lol.

Shout out to J.Rawls, it was great hanging out again, in Brazil even!

Shout out to Herbie Hancock for being really cool and nice.

I feel blessed to have had this experience with an artist and his people, in a country I’ve always wanted to visit. I thank Efrem aka Offshore for having made this trip possible for me. (Magma Culture)

I didn’t expect my review on this trip to be like this, but that’s what my experience was. I stay International. Next stop? Who knows. =)

-Pay aka Ms International.

PS. Video footage and more pictures of this trip coming soon.

Chingy: www.myspace.com/chingy

Magma Culture: www.magmaculture.com

So if you’re asking yourself what Twitter is, you probably are still trying to figure out where the ’start’ button is too on your windows machine. Hint: It’s the button on the bottom left that says “Start”.

So Twitter is a social networking site of sorts, but unlike Facebook and Myspace, it only allows for short messages. 140 characters to be exact. That’s not a lot of space to say what you want. With that in mind, what a lot of people do with twitter, is offer a short caption of what they want to say, and then use Tinyurl, a free link forwarding service, to link to a site that gives a more in-depth source of their topic.

So for an example, if I were to use twitter to tell tweets about my blog, I would post something along the lines of, “Hey check out my blog at http://tinyurl.com/y9n4b4o”. Then people could click that link to see what I’m talking about!

A lot of companies have started using twitter to let their customers know about what they’re doing, the latest promotions, and what’s coming soon. Some companies like Taco Bell have really taken a liking to Twitter for advertising.

What a lot of people seem to use it for though is more to keep in touch with their friends. Twitter provides a way for you to link your account to your phone, so wherever you go, whatever you are doing, you have a way to communicate and update all of your friends with a single text message.

A service like this has proven to be an extremely valuable resource for many people. The ease of use in which you can keep everyone in the loop can save a huge amount of time when planning and coordinating.

In my search for what makes Twitter useful to you, the user, I found this cool blog, Twittown which talks a lot about what is going on with Twitter, what people are doing with twitter, and just a whole lot of really awesome twitter information!

From what I’ve seen, Twitter could be very useful to me later, but at this point it’s not really something I -need-. So it’s just another thing that eats up what little time I have to upkeep if I’m going to invest any time in it at all. When I get to a point that I actually have a use for twitter beyond talking to friends, which I use facebook and other platforms for, then I might take a second look at it.

Though this guy would disagree with me. If you can get past the first bit, he does have a good bit of information about why you would want to use twitter.

I have been so amazed as a parent at how different each of my kids is. You could tell the differences early in life by how they got your attention, how different disciplines impacted them, and what would keep them engaged.

Hannah is my middle child and oldest daughter. While not yet a true teenager, she has been one since about the age of 8. As a guy, I have trouble with how to relate to her at times. While I had two sisters growing up, I did all I could to avoid them, and did more fighting as they would steal my clothes.

Hannah amazes me with her artistic abilities. There is not a craft found that she does not enjoy – including drawing, coloring, scrapbooking, beading, sewing, and crocheting (to name the top ones). Her imagination is constantly going. Her outfits are rarely the same twice, and the color mixes are completely out of this world to a guy who prefers basic jeans and earth tones for his clothing.

In your world at work, are you constantly learning and trying new things? No matter what your profession, are you aiming to be better?

Another thing that amazes me about my daughter is that Hannah makes friends when she walks into a room. She gets to know most of the girls in a group, and works hard to include even those who are sitting against the wall. She has a heart for reaching out to the quiet ones and including them in her group. We always laugh when she gets back from a new event with names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses.

She is a master networker, but not just for her own benefit, but to include others in her world. There is no ulterior motive. For me, it is a challenge to reach beyond my shyness to network, and it is harder still to do it just to make somebody feel better.

How are you at meeting new people? Who is involved in your circle of friends at work, at church, at the gym? Are you trying out new events so that you can meet new people? Check out Bill Hybel’s Walk Across the Room for some more thoughts here.

Hannah is the most adventurous one of my kids; willing to try just about anything once. She was the first of my kids to try out roller coasters, and she loves the thrill of the ride. She has wanted to be a nurse since she was 3, and the thrill of an autopsy or fish filleting holds her enthralled. My mother-in-law took her to see the Body exhibit when it was in Detroit, and there were no ill effects – just lots of “cools” and stories when she returned.

Stepping out of our comfort zone is never easy, but what comfort zones are you hiding in? Where do you need to be like Peter and step out of the boat?

Honor the wisdom of the child. What can you learn?

A critical factor in all services is availability, and therefore also network resilience.VMware ESXi allows for network teaming; that is adding two or more interfaces in a high availability configuration. The interesting bit is that, if the network infrastructure does not support Link State Tracking (which marks a port as down if its uplink is known to be down), ESXi broadcasts a ‘beacon’ signal from each of the teamed ports and listens for that beacon on the other ports. If it does not arrive, then that port is down. Clean!

Here is a vmware blog explaining this in more detail.

We used to maintain different build documents for Windows, Solaris and Linux for achieving network resilience. With a virtual platform, this will become obsolete making our lives even easier to manage.

Seeing the multiple benefits of using virtual platforms, I am seriously considering moving ALL services, including production, to a virtual platform. In my case, I am selecting VMware because I am short of human resources and would like a platform that is widely deployed and supported.

Hello everyone.

I want to first thank you for reading.

It’s very important that you read this entire post
to understand what is happening.

The reason for this post is to not only vent,
but to make people aware of something
sweeping the internet right now.

Everybody has their own opinions.
This is mine!

It’s called 2010 Blessings.

By now I’m sure you have seen some ads or
maybe even signed up for the gifting program.

Oh did I say “gifting?”

They call it a community to try to make it
legitimate.

There is my first sign!

Well I had the pleasure of talking to the owner
of the program named Jon Scherling.
Not!

Below is the conversation had between the two
of us this morning.

The first part is a message that I sent to my
online Skype contacts before I went to bed last
night the rest is history as the saying goes.

Gn all. Sleep well,
and have a great Sunday.

I will leave you with this thought.

“Ive heard it said that the true
judge of a mans charachter is
found in the way he treats those
who can do nothing for him.”

Have a great night.

The Blakester
Robert Blakely
http://RobertHBlakely.com

P.S. My company I’m involved in
is giving away a 2010 Ford Focus
Let me know if anyone wants details.

[11/21/2009 11:23:54 PM] Jon Scherling: Please do not
spam me
[12:03:56 PM] Robert Blakely: what spam
[12:03:59 PM] Robert Blakely: damn dude
[12:04:21 PM] Robert Blakely: how long you been marketing
[12:04:27 PM] Robert Blakely: link in sig file is not spam
[12:04:41 PM] Robert Blakely: its inspirational quote
[12:06:02 PM] Jon Scherling: Dont put it in my skype, I been a
marketer and probably the best video marketer on the planet,
ask around, I am also admin for 2010 and I just don’t want to see
that in my skype box, I tell everyone that not just you
[12:06:22 PM] Robert Blakely: I know who you are
[12:06:34 PM] Robert Blakely: what spam?
[12:06:40 PM] Robert Blakely: my link in sig file?
[12:06:45 PM] Jon Scherling: Well then, there shouldnt be any PS,
come on now
[12:06:48 PM] Robert Blakely: is that what your talking about?
[12:06:57 PM] Robert Blakely: there isn’t a link
[12:07:00 PM] Robert Blakely: how is it spam?
[12:07:14 PM] Jon Scherling: come on Rob, we know why thats
there and force of habit made me click on the link
[12:07:33 PM] Robert Blakely: sig file or ps?
[12:07:38 PM] Robert Blakely: what are you talking about?
[12:07:57 PM] Jon Scherling: what kind of marketer are you if you
don’t know that’s a classic ” call to action” ?
[12:08:16 PM] Robert Blakely: ok I was taught link in sig file isn’t bad
[12:08:25 PM] Robert Blakely: you made it sound like ps
[12:08:27 PM] Jon Scherling: Im not mad tho, just dont wanna see
that in my skype my friend that’s all
[12:08:35 PM] Robert Blakely: be clear on what you mean please so
i understand you
[12:08:44 PM] Robert Blakely: I’m just trying to understand you
[12:08:53 PM] Jon Scherling: P.S. My company I’m involed in
is giving away a 2010 Ford Focus
Let me know if anyone wants details.
[12:09:16 PM] Robert Blakely: you say youve been marketing for a
while you should know link in sig file is acceptable
[12:09:21 PM] Robert Blakely: there is no link there
[12:09:27 PM] Robert Blakely: how is it spam
[12:09:37 PM] Robert Blakely: if people are interested they will ask
[12:09:40 PM] Robert Blakely: not spam
[12:09:43 PM] Jon Scherling: there’s no link to that focus in this message?
[12:09:55 PM] Robert Blakely: No
[12:09:57 PM] Robert Blakely: there isn’t
[12:10:20 PM] Robert Blakely: So your jumping in my shit and didnt
even look
[12:10:59 PM] Jon Scherling: if i get it again now that you want to be
beligerant, it will cost you
[12:11:07 PM] Robert Blakely: omg
[12:11:25 PM] Robert Blakely: im not you are getting onto me for
something and it isn’t so
[12:11:46 PM] Robert Blakely: people will normally get offensive when
accused of something they are not doing wouldn’t you agree?
[12:12:01 PM] Robert Blakely: you say spam
[12:12:06 PM] Robert Blakely: but I’m not spamming
[12:12:34 PM] Robert Blakely: I dont appreciate being accused of
something I’m not doing
[12:13:08 PM] Jon Scherling: Did I ask about your companies giveaway?
[12:13:19 PM] Robert Blakely: Did I add a link to it?
[12:13:24 PM] Jon Scherling: well then I was spammed my friend under
the definition of spammin
[12:15:17 PM] Robert Blakely: and send unsolicited messages, which
could include commercial scam-ware, viruses, and links to paid links
[12:15:26 PM] Robert Blakely: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messaging_spam
[12:15:58 PM] Jon Scherling: I don’t want it in my box, PERIOD
[12:16:03 PM] Robert Blakely: what
[12:16:06 PM] Robert Blakely: a ps?
[12:16:13 PM] Robert Blakely: I’m trying to understand you Jon
[12:16:59 PM] Robert Blakely: so it seems to me your mad because
I put my link in my sig file which is acceptable and you clicked on it
[12:17:07 PM] Robert Blakely: so I’m just trying to understand you brother
13 minutes later…..
[12:30:17 PM] Robert Blakely: That’s what I thought.. Good luck with your 2010
[12:31:01 PM] Robert Blakely: please take me out of ning and all
[12:31:09 PM] Robert Blakely: erase from contacts I will do the same
[12:31:24 PM] Robert Blakely: Have a great life and good luck to you
[12:31:53 PM] Jon Scherling: PEACE
[12:32:41 PM] Jon Scherling: Guilty conscience talking
[12:32:46 PM] Jon Scherling: happens daily
[12:32:58 PM] Jon Scherling: your loss trust me
[12:33:01 PM] Robert Blakely: lol
[12:33:03 PM] Robert Blakely: ok
[12:33:06 PM] Robert Blakely: I’m real guilty
[12:33:10 PM] Robert Blakely: you couldn’t even respond
[12:33:15 PM] Jon Scherling: to what
[12:33:26 PM] Robert Blakely: your not worth my time of wasting arguing
about spam or no spam
[12:33:39 PM] Robert Blakely: I am very ethical
[12:33:43 PM] Robert Blakely: so no worries
[12:33:43 PM] Jon Scherling: stop spamming and you wouldn’t have to
worry about it
[12:33:47 PM] Robert Blakely: lol
[12:33:47 PM] Robert Blakely: ok
[12:33:58 PM] Robert Blakely: what ever you say man with the GOD complex
[12:34:04 PM] Robert Blakely: take care
[12:34:34 PM] Jon Scherling: http://focusup.com/TheBlakester
[12:34:43 PM] Jon Scherling: thats not a link i suppose huh?
[12:34:50 PM] Robert Blakely: Even some of your own members don’t
like you pretty sad
[12:34:55 PM] Robert Blakely: That’s in sig file hello
[12:35:05 PM] Robert Blakely: I’m done you can argue what ever you want
[12:35:22 PM] Robert Blakely: it has nothing to do with the 2010 car giveaway
[12:35:39 PM] Robert Blakely: and its in sig file
[12:35:43 PM] Robert Blakely: so drop it
[12:35:59 PM] Jon Scherling: they dont like me huh? I am here to protect my
people and people with attitudes like yours do you think it really matters if I’m liked?
[12:36:17 PM] Robert Blakely: Your the one with the attitude of GOD like proportions
[12:36:24 PM] Robert Blakely: your not GOD dude
[12:36:31 PM] Robert Blakely: get over yourself
[12:36:35 PM] Robert Blakely: I see right through you
[12:36:51 PM] Robert Blakely: you are not all that
[12:36:57 PM] Robert Blakely: so get over yourself
[12:37:16 PM] Jon Scherling: I am not religious bro, have no GOD to have a complex for
[12:37:33 PM] Robert Blakely: Yeah I know You think your it
[12:37:44 PM] Robert Blakely: anywho take care and I really wish you luck

His attitude is my second sign..

So after words he went on in his room trying to damage my reputation.
Here is that conversation….

Names of others have been removed to protect their identities.

[12:42:03 PM] ejected Robert Blakely from this conversation. ***
[12:42:17 PM] (ninja)
[12:42:41 PM] : /> /> />
[12:46:56 PM] : what happen there
[12:47:16 PM] all I seen was some guy flying out the door
[12:47:16 PM] Jon Sherling: SPAMMING ME
[12:47:24 PM] lol
[12:47:25 PM] wow
[12:47:32 PM] now thats just dumb
[12:47:34 PM] ZERO
[12:47:36 PM] TOLERANCE
[12:47:47 PM] Jon Scherling: He was real rude when i asked him about it
[12:48:17 PM] here ya go ****!! start ur sunday off
[12:48:30 PM]
[12:48:31 PM] LOL
[12:48:34 PM] Jon Scherling: he said this isnt spam:The Blakester
Robert Blakely
http://RobertHBlakely.com

P.S. My company I’m involed in
is giving away a 2010 Ford Focus
Let me know if anyone wants details.
[12:48:40 PM] Jon Scherling: you make the call
[12:49:25 PM] EVERYBODY WAS KUNG FU FIGHTING
[12:49:40 PM] good stuff (y)
[12:49:44 PM] jon thats not spam
[12:49:46 PM] at all
[12:49:50 PM] (chuckle)
[12:50:01 PM] not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[12:50:22 PM] OMG!! not at all….lol
[12:50:32 PM] Jon Scherling: how is it not?
[12:50:37 PM] :^)
[12:50:39 PM] kiding bro
[12:50:42 PM] thats *********** boy…who came in here
claiming he had a spam free reputation to maintain
[12:50:44 PM] kidding*
[12:50:46 PM] FOCUS UP??? hehe
[12:51:00 PM] oooohhhh that guy…hehe
[12:51:05 PM] Jon Scherling: well then you put that kinda thing
in someone you don’t knows skype box and see what they say
[12:51:06 PM] what a joker
[12:51:31 PM] its spam for sure Jon….i was kidding
[12:51:38 PM] me too jon
[12:51:40 PM] oh brutha , knumb knutzzzz strikes again (smirk)
[12:51:44 PM] its spam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[12:51:47 PM] Jon Scherling: I said , please don’t spam me and
I have a god complex now
[12:51:55 PM] lol
[12:51:59 PM] lol
[12:52:05 PM] (rock)
[12:52:36 PM] want me to call him an str8en him out Jon???
[12:52:37 PM] (angel)
[12:52:51 PM] i got his # yesterday from ***
[12:52:58 PM] Jon Scherling: he also mentioned that a lot of the community hate me?
[12:52:59 PM] Jon Scherling: lol
[12:53:00 PM] jon u are changing ur ways my friend
[12:53:07 PM] :O
[12:53:11 PM] me likey
[12:53:20 PM] i’d like to meet anyone who does Jon….
[12:53:21 PM]
[12:53:28 PM] WE think uuuuuu sexyyyyyy (inlove)(inlove)
[12:54:00 PM] u 6′6” luv hunk………..
[12:54:04 PM] we got love for ya
[12:54:08 PM] don’t trip
[12:54:12 PM] From what this community has done for our
lives and families lives….I have a hard time believeing that
anyone hates you at all….
[12:54:33 PM] they should get the slice n dice if they do!!!
[12:54:40 PM] which he did
[12:54:48 PM] /> /> />
[12:54:49 PM] exactly~
[12:54:49 PM] Jon Scherling: I love even the haters,
Midget Mike The Pimp taught me that!
[12:55:18 PM] i love a hater
[12:55:41 PM] means im on top of my game
[12:55:46 PM] gimmie MORE
[12:55:53 PM] Jon Scherling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxxPLDZnqwA
[12:55:57 PM] only people that hate u Jon , are other admin
running other cashing giftin activitys that are falling apart due to 2010
……. in philly they got the Rocky statue in Pitts we gonna have the Jon statue
[12:56:02 PM] :|
[12:56:54 PM] LOL @ da Kat
[12:57:05 PM] Jon Scherling: All TRUTH
[12:57:11 PM] Jon Scherling: dot cooooommmm
[12:57:24 PM] gotta love that REEEAAAAL TALK
[12:57:25 PM] he is 1 funny mofo
[12:57:38 PM] Jon Scherling: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-nWDs9BVNk
[12:57:38 PM] what is so funny about the “F” word every 1/2 sec
[12:58:13 PM] **** lol
[12:58:16 PM] Jon Scherling: hes real
[12:58:34 PM] he’s a joke
[12:58:50 PM] that’s why he’s funny?
[12:58:51 PM] smokin stunt ur growth .huh 6′6” …..lol must be a freak of nature
[12:59:11 PM] Jon Scherling: If you don’t like it dont watch, sorry if youre offended
[12:59:51 PM] that’s cool, it was posted and so I looked,
I’ll be more careful with things you post I guess
[1:00:01 PM] lol
[1:00:45 PM] *****…I am in agreement with you
[1:00:59 PM] I’m sorry I just don’t appreciate that sort of humor
to each his own, that’s why we are all individuals
[1:01:07 PM] ok ok…let’s not turn this into judge joe brown or anything

My third sign is him twisting my words and trying to make me look bad.

So funny thing is I sent this message out to 69 people.
He was the only one who complained. I then asked several
people if they saw or thought spam was in my original message.

All of them said NO!

*One thing I will always do is research before joining anything.

*Tenth, and lastly I will do everything that I can within reason to help those
that need it regardless of what business they are in.

If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life
if you help enough other people get what they want.
~Zig Ziglar ~

So what I’m asking everyone to do is to respond to this message
and let me know.. Am I a spammer? Be brutally honest.
If the rules have changed then I didn’t get that memo…

If I am wrong I can admit it. What are your thoughts?

My last question to answer as well is…
2010Blessings or God Like Complex?

You can go and get behind the program if you want to, but be forewarned
the owner Jon Scherling is out for himself and those that don’t bow to him
are shuned like Israelites in a dessert with no water….

So I go out Friday night. Its dreary. Its been raining.  So I put off going out.

But I RSVP’d yes.. Plus I can help spread the word about sites where I’m writing, and possibly network for jobs maybe.  And it was at the Gingerman (hello self, your favorite bar) So I should go right?

I drag myself out.  I dressed nicely.. well nicely for the Gingerman, but comfy for me. I did my hair and my makeup. When I last checked in the mirror before leaving I looked GOOD.

I walk out. Its still raining.  By the time I get to my car, even with the umbrella, my hair is now laying flat and frizzy. Damn it. But my face still looks ok.

By the time I actually get to the bar, my makeup is pretty much invisible with the exception of a little mascara and eyeliner.  Great!

Being as I was (on my own) meeting with a bunch of people from Twitter that I’ve never met before let alone only twittered with a couple of them ever, even though I’ve been to the Gingerman tons of times, my social anxiety was in full swing.  Entering the “party” looking worse than I did before I showered was not helping at all.

Luckily the Partymeister and crew were there to help give me a life-raft.  I ran into them shortly after entering the bar when Pete yelled “Hey!!!” loudly as I walked by. I said my “Hi’s” and went to find the Twitter ensemble.

2 hours late and the party was packed. Seriously packed like front of the stage at a rock concert. It could have easily been a moshpit. If I was actually prone to panic attacks, I’d have had one just trying to get through the crowd.

I instead went back to the Partymeister’s crew and had a beer.  Chatted a bit. Relaxed. However, when Partymeister’s pal ‘Chesthair Man’ decided to start pulling out his chest hair to prove to me that he didn’t need to be drunk to do it.. I decided to give the Twitterers another go.

I met a really nice guy with a huge dog. HUGE dog. I believe it was a short-haired St. Bernard. It made my 43lbs possible Belgian Shepherd look like a lapdog.  The dog was sequestered under the coffee table, and I totally envied the dog. I really wanted to just be under there with it.

But I threw a smile on my face, and tried to make my rounds. It was still massively crowded and moving around was hazardous, so I tried to stay on the edge of the group.  Still too crowded.

So I went back to Partymeister’s table and had another beer. This time Chris was there.  Unfortunately, he was also there with this very sexy “neighbor-friend” (his term) and completely absorbed by her.  Cute & adorable, but not very entertaining for me. (Yes it is all about me.)  So I talked a while with Pete as Chesthair Man went home, and Partymeister was distracted with some cute girls.

Finished my beer, then attempted the Twitterers again.  I then finally found LaniAR whom I’d found out about the Twitter party through, and was the hostess.  She introduced me to a couple people and we hit it off.

I actually met several really cool girls through the party which is extremely strange for me, but hey.. its a good thing.  I also met a couple guys.  One was extremely HOT, but sadly uber-married.  Another may grow on me.. we’ll see.

All in all, it was a good time. Tiring. Stressful. Insane. But a good time.

Oh and I now have a massive amount of Twitter-followers.  Seriously though Twitterers.. I’m not THAT interesting. I promise.  But for you, I’ll try.

We here at Mysoiree are always thinking about ways to use the latest tools of the internet and cyber space to build our community, but because we connect with real people, deal with physical art that you touch and feel, we tend to favor those heartfelt acts that involve the real world. Which why we love the hand written note, it is the best way to make a great impression and is incredibly personal.  Artist Cathy Fiorelli has joined the Mysoiree community, so order yours today so you can say thank you tomorrow.

Have you ever asked yourself the question “Would I network with me?”. I am making the assumption that you understand the importance of networking  for your business.  Every networking event I attend I meet at least one person that I have no intention of building a relationship with and here’s why.

Which networker are you?

Talker or Listener? I am a huge talker and am always one of the most visible at an event. I do that by design because visibility attracts business. However, when I meet someone new I make sure the conversation is completely focused on them. I use the 80%/20% rule. I listen 80% and I talk only 20%. My goal is to learn more about them than I tell about me. I am actually testing them on how they handle our first encounter. If they are more focused on handing me their card and being a “Vomiting Vera” about their business then I will probably trash their card and not follow-up. I want to connect with people who I can build a mutually beneficial relationship with.

Dress up or Dress down? There is some leeway on this subject depending on the type of event you are attending BUT consider branding yourself by what you wear. I see a lot of the same people at events and I identify them as professionals because they are always dressed for business. Of course, there are typically a few dressed in jogging suits, baseball caps and baggy jeans. These are people I would probably not do business with or refer to my clients. Consider standing out at these events with your attire. I have a business associate that attends every networking event with a fedora type hat. He is in the promotional products industry but can be identified across the room. As for myself, I wear bright colors because that makes me easily identifiable.

Eye contact or eye wanderer? Making eye contact during your conversations indicate you are focused on what that person is saying. There is nothing wrong in looking around the room but keep it to only 20% of the time. Concentrate 80% of your attention on the person or group you are speaking with.

Stander or Mover? You may not have an outgoing personality but don’t stand in a corner or sit in one spot and wait for people to come to you. Moving and working the room allows you more visibility and the ability to end a conversation more gracefully when it is time to move on. Moving helps you meet more people. If you want to be a stander then stand by the food table because everyone will coming to that area eventually. The idea is to keep the flow of people going.

Next time you attend a networking event, ask yourself “Would I network with me?”

Ask Questions.  Get Feedback.  Take Action.

This is the slogan of a web site called Rypple.  I have not tried it yet but I am curious about it and wonder if any of you have tried it.  The concept seems sound.  It allows you to gather feedback on yourself quickly and anonymously.

After all, it is difficult to gather meaningful feedback in the workplace.  Yes, most companies have a format for gathering and providing feedback but usually only on a yearly basis.  And it comes slowly and so infrequently that it is hard to measure progress.  If anyone has tried it or tries it now, please leave a comment.  Feedback is a gift. 

It Only Takes One,

Matt

Many people who don’t use social networking websites believe that they are a waste of time. To someone who doesn’t use Twitter, it seems pointless to constantly be tweeting about everything you are doing. Does it really matter if your friends know that you had bacon and eggs for breakfast or that you’re about to go to the grocery store? Does updating your page really consume your whole life? Does your social life in the real world suffer?

Social networking sites were actually intended to do the opposite. Through Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and other outlets, users can meet or connect with people they wouldn’t otherwise. Communication is simple; you can communicate with many people at the click of a mouse. Through events pages and status updates, you always know what your friends are up to. This can show you more about who these people are or even give you something to do. Though some believe that social networking sites can be harmful, if used the right way, they can really enhance your social life in ways that would be impossible without the internet.

Un años más he acudido al FICOD ya en su tercera edición y sin duda podemos decir que es un evento consolidado.

Reunir en Madrid durante 3 intensos días a los mejores profesionales de medios como Internet, Radio, Televisión, Cine, Publicidad, Videojuegos, Educación, Publicaciones on-line, etc no es tarea fácil.

Este año la organización se ha ganado un 10. Sebastian Muriel, el alma mater, el equipo de Red.es y todos los colaboradores han conducido el evento de maravilla.

Con más de 2 meses de antelación el evento estaba publicado en diferente medios y te facilitaban la inscripción. Seguidamente una comunicación on-line si avasallar para recordarte el evento y organizar bien tu agenda para sacarle el máximo partido a este evento.

Cuando llegas al evento, o bien tienes un código numérico o un código bidi para recoger tu pase. Después un buen lote de cosas prácticas como la guia de conferencias, el lector de DNI electrónico, conector USB múltiple y un cargador USB para diferentes modelos de móviles.

Una vez tienes claro a qué conferencias acudir, conectar tu portátil y activar el Wi-fi de tu ordenador para poder seguir conectado.

Tuve la suerte de poder ver a través de FICOD TV a Kevin Spacey, Bernardo Hernandez y Nolan Bushnell. Aqui hay que hacer una mención especial a Jaime Estévez y a su equipo de Agoranews por la excelente cobertura del evento, ya que además de infinidad de entrevistas a los principales protagonistas han subido en tiempo record todos los contenidos a la web.

Aqui está el resumen de las entrevistas más interesantes.

TWITTER:

Fue otro de los protagonistas de FICOD, así como en el EBE. Los early adopters ya no podemos vivir sin nuestro Twitter y en la mayoría de las salas teníamos una pantalla para subir los twitts con el tag de acuerdo a la charla para comentar y hacer preguntas.

NETWORKING:

Este aspecto Ficod sin duda lo ha potenciado más que en años anteriores. Por un lado con el registro previo en el área de negocios patrocinado por Everis.

Por otro lado habían una serie de espacios donde sentarte tranquilamente a charlar con asistentes a FICOD y finalmente los dos eventos – Entrega de premios + música + vino español – que me han permitido así como al resto de asistente el hacer networking en un ambiente cómodo y distendido.

Las mesas redondas estuvieron muy bien, a cuál más interesante y algunas bastante animadas, divertidas y algo polémicas, pero de eso se trata, de crear debate, participación y que salgan a la luz los problemas de cada uno de los sectores.

Me gustó también la iniciativa de Angel Maria de Bubok y e-cultura organizando la primera feria del libro digital que contó con su área específica de stands, talleres y mesas redondas.

Ficod

Por útimo el evento decano en el área de tecnologías de la información, el  “LAST THURSDAY”, que celebró su edición número 100 con sus ya conocidas JAM SESSIONS.  Estuvo muy divertivo gracias a los blogs brother y a la participación de todos los amigos y fans de este evento.

We all know that social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook are affecting the way we communicate with others. Instead of driving to someones’ house or even picking up a phone, people are often choosing to instant message, private message, or public message others on the web.

One way that these websites are impacting us that we may not think about is the creation of terms that become part of our everyday language. Terms such as newsfeed, blog, and wall post would not have been created if it wasn’t for social networking sites. Some words, such as “unfriend” have even made it to the dictionary. Also, These sites come up with new definitions for words we already use such as “tweet” on Twitter and “friend (as a verb)” on Facebook and Myspace. As these websites expand and new ones keep popping up, new words will continue to be created and used all over the world.

We’re back just before the Holidays: our December Reading Girl Geek Dinner, sponsored by our friends at Symantec, is back at La Tasca in central Reading.

The event will commence at 6.30pm; a lovely tapas dinner will follow from 7pm and we will have some time for networking during and after the meal.

The theme of the evening will be “Be Inspired “: We will have a guest speaker but, mainly come with your ideas and ready to network and be inspired.

Full Details:

• Date & Time: Thursday, 10th December, 6:30pm for a 7pm start
• End Time: Late
  
• Venue: La Tasca, Reading
• Hosted by: Girl Geek Dinners and Symantec
  
• Food & Drink: Spanish tapas, buy your own drinks
  
• Subject for the evening: Be Inspired
  
• Format: Reception, Dinner, Conversation
  
• Capacity: 40 people
  
• Attendees: As ever, boy geeks are welcome to attend if invited by a girl geek although on this occasion we do stress that there are few and limited spaces so more boy geeks = less girl geeks.
  

If you’d like to attend on 10th December, please sign up via the Register Now button below, and we’ll see you at the event!

By Wendy J. Terwelp, Career Coach, Personal Branding Strategist
Excerpted from “Rock Your Network® for Job Seekers.”

1. Schedule time to network; create a networking plan.

2. Create your own on-brand sound bite (Chapter 5)

3. Take 5 minutes to update your contact list to see who is currently in your network – and who should be. Think BIG.

4. Take 5 minutes and review your LinkedIn updates; send a quick email to those in your network who’ve shared news – like a new job.

5. Ask a friend how you can help him or her. You’ve got to fuel your network to fire it up! Those who give get.

6. Send an article or cool website link to someone in your network.

7. Take 5 minutes and introduce your friends to each other at the next networking event or gathering.

8. When you get business cards, jot down the date, name of the event, and at least one unique thing you learned about the person so you can follow up with them later.

9. Send a card on a weird holiday like Steve on page 65.

10. Take 5 minutes and thank a friend, family member, boss, colleague, college alumnus or coworker.

© 2009 • Wendy J. Terwelp • Opportunity Knocks™ • All Rights Reserved.

Wendy Terwelp has helped thousands of clients get hired faster and be rock stars at work since 1989. A recognized expert on networking, both online and off, Wendy has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Fast Company, The Business Journal, Careerbuilders.com, Monster.com, and more as well as numerous radio shows. She has published hundreds of articles on the web and in print. She literally wrote the book on networking, “Rock Your Network® for Job Seekers.” Learn more and get free tips to rock your career at www.knocks.com.

Want to order the book, “Rock Your Network® for Job Seekers?”
Call: 262.241.4655 or visit: www.knocks.com.

When I was active in the New Age movement in the 1980s, there were all types of gatherings. Meditation groups, lectures, workshops, all sorts of activities that centered around one specific thing or another. What was missing were gatherings that were simply social in nature.

Many of the people who attended all these gatherings were there because they wanted to meet other like-minded people. They sat through the lecture or group with mild interest, but the time before and after the activity was when they could mingle with other spiritual seekers and find kindred souls.

In our process of re-vitalizing the New Age movement, here is one way to help things along: hold a New Age party! Bring together all the people you know who are interested in New Age things, let them meet and share and connect. Tell them about the New Age revival and invite them to be a part.

You can do this on various scales. Just invite people you know to your home, or invite people you know and invite them to bring a friend. Or rent a space and open the gathering to the public, leaving flyers at the local New Age bookstore and placing an ad in the local newspaper. The point is to bring people together and bring back the “movement” part of the New Age movement. Each person who joins in has the potential to reach other people, and those other people can reach still other people. This is how a movement grows.

New Age social gatherings can be an important tool in the New Age Revival. Whether you call it a party, or a social gathering, or a networking meeting, it will bring people with common interests together. You can use this opportunity to bring people’s attention to the origin of the New Age movement as a movement for social as well as spiritual transformation. If you want to emphasize the revival of the New Age movement, you can give out flyers with more information and resources for people who are interested (and I would be honored if you would include this blog as one of the resources!).

There is so much we can all do to help revive the New Age movement and help create a better world. Having a New Age party is a joyful new tool that we can all use. Celebrate the New Age!

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What professional benefits do you see by investing time into a FOAF-style network?

Social networking sites like Facebook almost entirely rely on friend-of-a-friend relationships. Actually, they facilitate these types of relationship by sending notifications saying “Connect with John Smith. You have 147 friends in common.” So what started out as just a social activity, is now being utilized for professional and career purposes. FOAF networks bring people together through other people and common interests. It’s no surprise that these types of networks are being for professional benefits. Personally, I would find the major benefit of being able to know the people you could be working with at your job beforehand and that way you already have an established relationship (which could either be a good or bad thing). More often than not, the job you’re looking for is probably not going to be advertised all over the place, and through FOAF networks and the more you have, there’s a better chance that you can find a job you love simply through who you know.

The 1st Social Media Mastery Class

You’ve been to training sessions, you’ve seen the presentations. Now you want to get started using social media and you have more questions than you started with. The Social Media Mastery course was designed with you in mind. An intensive 10-week workshop takes you beyond the basics and gives you the skills you need to build your business with social media.

Since each course is tailored to the audience, each participant will be asked to complete a simple survey prior to the first session.

Get the unique perspectives of two diverse trainers, Rob Laughter and Martin Brossman.

Topics include:

1. What’s a Tweeter anyway? Covering the basics.
2. THE Walk of Fame: Your Facebook Fan Page and You
3. Twitter Time! Learning the culture.
4. Bliggity Blogging and LinkedIn
5. Important Stuff: Revisiting transparency, tone, consistency and personality.
6. Attracting an Audience: integrating your social media presence.
7. Advanced Tools, or “How to Manage Your Social Media Presence Without Wasting Your Time.”
8. Seeing is Believing: Youtube and Podcasting.
9. An open realm of possibilities: expand your social presence.
10. Putting it all together: Becoming a Social Media Rockstar

Additional areas of exploration include: Facebook (business and personal profiles), Twitter, LinkedIn, InSide919, YouTube, Blogging, Flickr, tracking success using Analytics, reputation management, productivity tools, time management, monitoring, personal branding, integration with a marketing program, using local directories, SlideShare, podcasting, BrightKite, understanding news aggregators and RSS Feeds.

Support you’ll receive:

20 hours of classroom training tailored to your goals
2 hours of individual coaching on your own time (one hour from each instructor – a $300 value)
Signed, printed copy of Martin Brossman’s Guide to Social Media (a $15 value)
Unlimited access to step-by-step instructional videos guiding you through key areas
Worksheets and homework for each week’s class, delivered in PDF format

Meeting Dates:

All dates meet from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.

Dec. 2, 9, 16.
Jan. 6, 13, 20, 27.
Feb. 3, 10, 17.

Can’t make a date?  Send a friend or colleague in your place!
Register here and hold your position. Only one person per industry! http://mysocialmastery.eventbrite.com/

Held at Team Numbus in Raleigh NC

Meet Your Trainers:

Rob Laughter runs Connective Insights, a Raleigh-based social media consultancy company. Working with companies, small business owners, and individuals, Rob helps them understand, plan for, and execute strategies in social media and marketing. To learn more about social media and discuss if social media is even right for you, contact Rob at 919-833-3446, his twitter (@roblaughter), or his website (http://www.connectiveinsights.com).

Martin Brossman is a success coach, speaker, trainer and author based in Raleigh, NC with an office in Washington DC. He specializes in helping small businesses integrate social media in their marketing and networking strategies (www.pronetworkingonline.com) Martin has originated numerous successful in-person and on-line networking groups which have facilitated meaningful business connections among members. His computer skills have powered his keen ability to create and teach crucial new Internet communications, such as blogging, podcasting and on-line networking. His own podcast show can be heard at www.InquireOnLine.info . Martin offers consulting on how to generate profitable alliances by maximizing face-to-face and on-line presence and managing “the conversation of you” on the Web.