I read this morning in the Express paper that the Topeka Unified School District 501 is no longer allowing kindergarteners to have nap time. Kindergarteners! Apparently the practice had been officially discontinued years ago but some teachers were still allowing children up to 25 minutes per day to nap (gasp!)
This may seem like a benign issue, but when I read it I thought, “wow, another vestige of childhood – gone!” I don’t know how widespread this ban on naptimes is, but it saddens me to think that future generations will not be allowed this tiny luxury. Of course parents are probably happy because the children will most likely fall asleep earlier in the evening, but this isn’t about them.
As a person who more often than not is plagued by too much stress and not enough sleep, I think a mid-day “power nap” could have a phenomenal impact on my motivation, morale and energy levels. Well, maybe not phenomenal, but noticeable, I’m sure. Unfortunately, this culture tends to frown upon workday napping.
This article mentions a Harvard Medical School study that found that napping aids in the learning process. Though everyone knows that study results can pretty much be skewed to say whatever you want them to say (or maybe that’s just my cynicism talking) the possibility of this being true is reason enough to continue and encourage napping for all – cradle to grave – let’s start a revolution! Bring back nap time!
Today is my birthday! I am officially 37 years young. Some people are apprehensive about sharing their age, but I figure it is what it is. Lying or saying I’m 25 for 50 years won’t change the fact. Besides, why be ashamed? The only way to avoid getting older is to die.
I used to be one of those people that when asked my age would respond “how old do you think I am?” Inevitably the response would be much younger than I actually am and that would make me feel good for a few minutes. Still, their perception didn’t really change anything. To this day people often think I’m younger than I am and for that I’m grateful. I certainly know some people my age and younger who haven’t aged quite as well. This post isn’t about looks or exterior qualities though. It’s about me, where I am and where I want to be.
I never thought I’d live this long. When I was younger I had recurring visions of myself dying at age 27. Not sure why these started, but they lasted for years so I was sure they had to be accurate. To say I acted accordingly would be a slight understatement. I never went totally out of control, but I also never made long-term plans.
So now, here I stand, 10 years past what I thought would be my expiration date and I ask myself what I have to show for it. The answer will change based on my mood. Sometimes I focus on all that I have (health, kids, the basic necessities of life, etc.) and sometimes I focus on all that I don’t have (a romantic relationship, a career that I love, close friends, etc.) I feel like there’s so much that I’d love to be doing, so much that I’d love to have achieved, just so much in general. I feel quite under-accomplished for my age. Instead of dwelling on the negative though, I’m determined to rev things up in this next year of life and make things happen. After all, you only live once and if you’re only as old as you feel, I’m still pretty young!
I Heart Social Media-DC held it’s second monthly networking/learning event on August 26 at Bar Dupont. The focus for this month was Blogging (what’s not to love about blogging?) Speakers for the evening were Amanda Miller-Littlejohn, President & CEO of Mopwater PR + Media Notes, a public relations firm based in Washington, DC, and Anna John, co-founder of the renowned blog about the South Asian diaspora, Sepia Mutiny. We were informed last night that Anna is also now a professional (read: paid) blogger for NPR. Congratulations on that, Anna!
Anna and Amanda shared their blogging experiences, which were quite different. Anna started Sepia Mutiny to fill a void – she (and her co-founders) did not see the South Asian voice being represented in the blogosphere, so they took it upon themselves to change that. And change it they did! Their blog is now the go-to online destination for news, pop culture info, etc. related to South Asians.
Conversely, Amanda began the Mopwater PR blog to assist in branding her company. The blog is used as a way to share information and spark conversation around PR and PR-related issues.
Though their reasons for starting a blog were different, both speakers spoke to the importance of being authentic in your blog. They advised to not try to be someone else or create a persona – just be yourself. Anna said that one of the greatest compliments she received was that she was the same in person as she comes across on the blog. Authenticity. I believe in that wholeheartedly. With me, what you read is what you get.
When it came time for Q&A, a major concern amongst attendees was how to separate the personal from the professional (one of my favorite topics.) Some were challenged with how to separate their personal views from their employer blog posts. Anna told one journalist that she couldn’t advise her to risk her job to espouse her personal viewpoints. Amanda told one attendee who is an advocate that there could be a way for her put a personal spin on her posts -add humanity, as it were – without jeopardizing the purpose of the blog. So as you can see, there’s no cut & dry answer. It’s really going to depend on your individual circumstances.
The crowd at this event was a mix of people who have blogs, people who want to have blogs and people who have no intention of having a blog. Gotta appreciate the diversity! Be sure to follow @socialmediadc on Twitter to find out about future I Heart Social Media – DC events. You can follow Amanda Miller Littlejohn at @amamdamogul or @MopwaterPR and Anna John at @suitablegirl.
Here, Adrienne Sheares discusses why she started I Heart Social Media DC. I know it’s dark, but hey, it was a bar!
Well, as usual, last night’s nGAGEDC event was a huge success! For me, nGAGEDC is always a great opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new connections. I’ve been attending since April and each one has been bigger and better than the last. I’m convinced that in a month or two, they will need to use two sections of Lounge 201!
If by some crazy chance you still haven’t been to the best “more than just networking” event in town, be sure to follow ngagedc on Twitter so you won’t miss the next one.
Now you know it wouldn’t be me if there weren’t pics to follow. Enjoy.
Social Media Club-DC (SMC-DC) held it’s August Happy Hour last night at Clyde’s of Gallery Place. I always have a great time with my fellow social media-philes, but this happy hour was special because it was the introduction of the 2010-2011 Leadership Team and yours truly made the cut. That’s right, people, I have been granted the wonderful opportunity to lend my talents and enthusiasm to SMC-DC’s 2010-2011 Membership and Community Team. I look forward to working with everyone to take SMC-DC to the next level. Look out for big things to come from this group. Be sure to follow @smcdc on Twitter!
Presenters - Alex Priest & Amanda Miller Littlejohn
On August 14, 2010, Mopwater PR & Media Notes held the DC PowerTwitter workshop; designed to teach attendees how to utilize Twitter more effectively and efficiently in order to best achieve their desired goals.
President & CEO of Mopwater, Amanda Miller Littlejohn, presented an overview of how to use Twitter to accomplish your personal and professional goals via branding. She stressed the importance of content and in being focused. According to Amanda, content should be a mix of evergreen and time-sensitive material. It’s also important to determine your branding and industry keywords, throwing a few personal twist keywords in for good measure. Unfortunately, I drew a complete blank when we were given the activity of coming up with our individual keywords. It must have been all of the excitement!
I’m an avid tweeter so I was super excited to attend this workshop and I’m so glad that I did. If you follow me on Twitter – watch out because it’s about to be on! If you don’t, well, why don’t you? You don’t know what you’re missing! As usual, pics & vids to follow.
It’s important to have a social presence; especially if you have something to sell, and EVERYONE has something to sell. Be it a mission, a product, or, the most critical brand of all, yourself, everyone needs to know how to best navigate the worlds of social media and networking in order to accomplish their goal, which is to get people to buy what you’re selling. For those of us who are not (yet) self-employed, the waters can become murky when you are trying to distinguish between your social presence and that of your employer. For some people, the two are indistinguishable. For me, they couldn’t be farther apart.
True story: I attended a social media seminar recently, which I live-tweeted. It was on a weekday, my company paid for it and they will definitely benefit from the knowledge I gained, but I did the live-tweeting from my personal Twitter account. During a staff meeting following the event, I discussed the seminar and that I had live-tweeted it. My supervisor asked if I had used my own Twitter account. My response, “Yes. I represent brand ME.” I didn’t attend with the understanding that I would live-tweet for the firm and it’s second nature for me to do this when I attend events. This is what I do. This is not; however, what my company does. Of course my supervisor’s primary concern was how the company would be represented via my tweets. Well, she needn’t worry because no one in my Twitter network even knows where I work, unless I know them personally.
On my social networks I don’t brand myself as an employee of this firm. I don’t even mention it, except on LinkedIn, which is pretty much an online resume. People don’t know me as “employee of XYZ company.” They know me as “ms. rasberry.” That is MY brand and the one I choose to promote. A few months ago, my company wanted to link our LinkedIn profiles to our profiles on the company website and I fought against that. Why? I don’t want the lines to be blurred. Though my profile lists the company that I work for as part of my employment history, that’s not the purpose of it. I’m not representing, or selling, them; I’m selling ME. I’ve never sent a tweet or written a blog or Facebook post as a representative of my firm. If I mention anything about work, I’m never specific. When I live-tweet our annual conference, that’s when I use the firm account.
Though more and more companies are embracing and even encouraging the use of social media by employees, employers remain concerned as to the potential negative effect this could have. The solution is for companies to put social media policies and guidelines in place. These guidelines will set the stage for how employees can utilize social media in the name of the company and under what circumstances they can mention their relationship to the company. Even companies that do not currently have a social presence should establish these guidelines. Better safe than sorry.
For employees, better to err on the side of caution. We’ve all heard the stories of the person who was fired because of a tweet or blog post mentioning their employer. Be mindful of your social presence and any potential impact it may have on your employer – if you want to keep your job. Keep the personal, personal and keep the professional, professional. Don’t be a social media casualty!
I’ve decided to add a new feature to ms. rasberry’s world – book reviews! Bibliophile that I am, I’m surprised that I haven’t done this sooner BUT as the saying goes, “better late than never.” For my first book review selection I have chosen ‘Nina Garcia’s Look Book – What to Wear for Every Occasion, which will be released on Tuesday, August 10, 2010.
Let me start by saying that I own all four of Nina Garcia’s books. Though she may be a bit harsh direct at times in her role as judge on Project Runway, her writing style is witty and conversational, as though she’s talking to a friend. Or a friend of a friend. Her tone is never condescending; yet, you’re always very aware of the fact that this isn’t your average ’round the way girl, unless “the way” includes Fashion Weeks all around the world and vacations on out of the way islands.
Garcia’s latest effort focuses on the types of outfits that women should wear for key life events. The events she mentions include those you’d expect: first date, interview, cocktail party to those you might not expect: jury duty, art opening, therapy. I love that she chose to include “events” that most fashion advice books ignore. Life is more than job interviews and first dates – much more. Just as she did in her previous books, Garcia sprinkles the book with fashion related quotes which I find to be a great way to break up the text.
Know first who you are; and then adorn yourself accordingly. -Epictetus
As one might expect from someone with Garcia’s fashion pedigree, the book makes mention of brands such as Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin and Louis Vouitton, which, while certainly recognizable, may be out of the average reader’s price range. Garcia takes great care; however, to encourage that readers select outfits that are not only appropriate for the occasion, but that reflect their own sense of style – after all, some women will never wear pearls. Or a cardigan/cami set. Or leather. Or jeans. Still, this book serves as a great jump-off point from which to elevate your personal style. The advice is given in a smart, funny, easy-to-read manner and includes advice on not only the appropriate outfit but also the appropriate attitude. What good is a hot pair of jeans or a perfectly tailored suit without the right attitude to carry them off? Garcia blends this information in seamlessly.
As much as I enjoyed this book, I do have to take issue with one thing. Scattered throughout the book are sections called ‘the coif the face’ in which Garcia describes the appropriate hairstyles and makeup looks for certain outfits/occasions. My peeve with these sections is that they’re written from the assumption that every fashionista has long flowing hair that can be worn in shoulder grazing fabulousness, a casual ponytail or a sophisticated chignon. Guess what, Nina. Not so much. There’s a whole group of dynamic, fashion-loving females with short to medium hair. I’m going to venture to guess that Garcia is not being purposefully exclusionary and that she probably just has a preference for long hair that shows in her writing. Or maybe it’s because longer hair offers more styling options and thus more to write about. Either way, it was a minor turn-off. To be fair, she does include ‘short and sassy’ as one of the style types in the hair glossary located in the back of the book, but that’s in the back of the book. Some of Ruben Toledo’s accompanying illustrations have short hair, but the text rarely mentions it.
one of ruben toledo's fabulous illustrations
Speaking of Ruben Toledo – no review of a Nina Garcia book can be complete without mention of his fabulous illustrations. I get her books just as much to view his artwork as I do to read her advice. Seriously. He is an absolutely genius artist. I’ve loved his work in her previous three books and he does not fail to impress in this one.
If you’re into fashion (or fashion illustration) or just need to know, well, what to wear for every occasion, this book is well worth a look. So just what does one wear to therapy? You’ll have to check out the book to find out; but whatever you wear to wherever you go, rock it!
*This recap will be longer than my typical recap, as this was a day long event.
On Friday, August 6, Young Nonprofit Professionals Network DC (YNPNdc) held their second annual Social Media Summit at ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership. The theme of this year’s Summit was ‘Bringing Theory to Practice.’ Sessions were designed to focus on practical applications for social media use within nonprofits.
As a social media advocate who’s been involved with the nonprofit sector for over 10 years, I considered this a “must-attend” event. However, since it was held on a weekday, I had to sell my supervisor – who doesn’t know the difference between Tweetdeck and a deck of cards- on the idea, in order to not have to use my personal leave. My way with words and genuine passion for social media served me well in this task. I made my pitch and a few weeks later, I was at the Summit, live-tweeting away!
This was my first YNPNdc event so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I was looking forward to finding out. Having viewed the agenda beforehand I knew they had an impressive lineup of presenters, but good on paper doesn’t always translate to interesting in person, so I was still a little apprehensive because 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. is a long time to be bored. Turns out I had no reason to worry! Each speaker was interesting, informative, engaging, and most importantly, kept me awake – since I was running on about four hours of sleep.
The first session of the day was ‘Social Starter Kit: Tools to Jumpstart Your Nonprofit’s Social Presence‘ presented by Tammy Gordon, Senior Advisor for Social Communications, AARP (I love that this job exists!) Tammy gave a fabulous presentation, full of humor and real-life scenarios. She discussed how to establish social media guidelines for your organization, getting executive buy-in, incorporating social media into your communications strategy without a dedicated budget and the fact that this is an ever evolving field.
“There’s no such thing as a social media expert.” – Tammy Gordon
Next up was Brian Dresher,Manager of Social Media and Digital Partnerships, USA TODAY. I had seen Brian co-moderate the #140conf and interviewed him at Tech Cocktail during DCWeek, so I was looking forward to seeing his presentation, ‘USA TODAY: More Than Just News. A Social Media Case Study.‘ Though USA TODAY is not a nonprofit organization, the information translated well. Brian spoke of utilizing various platforms to reach your audience, thinking outside of the box and being able to integrate social aspects into your website. He also talked about how news is being disseminated differently and that journalists are engaging consumers via social networking.
“There’s a community for everything on Twitter.” – Brian Dresher
The lunchtime keynote address was given by Reggie Henry, Chief Technology Officer, ASAE. Talk about your atypical presenter! To use a common colloquialism, Reggie “kept it real.” He was open and honest about challenges involved with implementing social media strategies within organizations that have a multi-generational workforce. He discussed the importance of having goals and also shared some “what happens in Vegas” learning moments from his experience. I don’t usually want to listen to people talk while I’m eating, but Reggie’s speech was well worth it.
“In coming years, the content curator will be one of the most highly paid professionals in an organization.” – Reggie Henry
The post-lunch agenda gave attendees the option of attending either a panel session or a single presenter session. For the first portion, the choice was between panel session Social Media and a Call to Action and How to Use Social Media to Build Excitement, Attendance and Engagement for Your Next Conference or Event, presented by Rosetta Thurman, President, Thurman Consulting. Though I’m sure the panel session was great, I opted for the event session. Big surprise.
Rosetta focused on four tools to utilize to promote events: Blogs, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube. When asked why she hadn’t included Facebook, she replied that she hadn’t seen it used often or effectively by nonprofits as a way to promote events. Rosetta spoke to the point that you have to build momentum around an event well in advance and that use of the aforementioned tools is a great way to do that. Additionally, you must engage with your audience before, during and after an event to gain a sense of their expectations, as well as to drive registration. Rosetta suggested using Eventbrite as a registration tool because it makes it easy for registrants to share the event with their networks via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
“Events that incorporate live-blogging and live-tweeting have a different vibe. They’re more interesting.” – Rosetta Thurman
For the second afternoon session, attendees were given the choice between Nonprofit Communications 2.0: Leveraging Social Media to Achieve Communications Goals (panel discussion) and Analysis, Benchmarks and Campaign Conclusions – The ABCs of SocialMedia ROI presented by Jordan Viator, Interactive Communications Manager, Convio. This time I opted for the panel discussion.
Talk about a group of heavy hitters! As moderator for the session, Ashley Parker, Communications Coordinator for Community Support Services, kept the conversation going by asking predetermined questions centered around the utilization of new media in a traditional media focused environment. Topics of conversation ranged from the need (or lack thereof?) for the traditional press release to utilizing social networks to build relationships with journalists. Though the room set-up made it difficult to see all of the panelists, the content was definitely captivating.
The day ended with closing comments from Malcolm Furgol, YNPNdc Vice-Chair and a standing ovation for Summit coordinator, John Chen. Of course no event in DC is complete without a post-event happy hour, so after all was said and done, attendees headed over to Lima Restaurant & Lounge to relax and debrief.
YNPNdc put on a great event! I’m so glad that I was able to attend and I’m already looking forward to the next one!
As always, here go the photos. There aren’t as many as I would’ve liked because I didn’t want to be disruptive while people were speaking since I wasn’t filming in an “official” capacity. Same goes for the videos.
My Klout classification as of August 5, 2010 - Activist
I’ve been obsessed with influence (social media buzzword) lately. To be more specific, I’ve been obsessed with MY influence. Twitter fanatic that I am, I long ago discovered decided that number of followers does not correlate to influence. I don’t collect Twitter followers (or Facebook friends) in the same manner in which I collected Lisa Frank stickers as a child. I had books and books filled with them! Back then, it was all about quantity. These days though, it’s about quality. Quality and engagement (another social media buzzword.) That being said, I’ve become quite taken with Klout. Don’t know about Klout scores? Read this description from the website:
The Klout Score is the measurement of your overall online influence. The scores range from 0 to 100 with higher scores representing a wider and stronger sphere of influence. Klout uses over 25 variables to measure True Reach, Amplification Probability, and Network Score. The size of the sphere is calculated by measuring True Reach (engaged followers and friends vs. spam bots, dead accounts, etc.). Amplification Probability is the likelihood that messages will generate retweets or spark a conversation. If the user’s engaged followers are highly influential, they’ll have a high Network Score.
How exciting is that?! As of today, my Klout score is 52. I suppose this means I have a little more online influence than your average bear. But what does it really mean? In a nutshell it means that a decent number of good people list/retweet/listen to me and that I engage with a fair number of my 626 followers. I feel good about that. Onward & upward!
As a lark, I joined the Fast Company Influence Project. I don’t see this as a true gauge of any real influence since it’s only based on how many people click a project-based link, but I thought it’d be fun to see the results. My current rank is 3,089 out of 24,549. Apparently your photo size increases with your influence too.
While these metrics are certainly interesting, I’d love to know – do I influence you?
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