How early is too early to go to work?

Morning rush hour traffic, Portland, Oregon.

I'm in the habit of heading to the office around 6:30 a.m. to get in front of the bulk of morning rush hour traffic. Although my late afternoon intention is to leave early, it doesn't always work out that way, which, in the end, makes for a long workday.

In the early morning, I appreciate a dark office, the slow transition from the soft tapping of fingers on my computer keyboard to the full morning sun streaming through the knee high to ceiling windows and the rise in volume from voices streaming into the office expressing their morning greetings, shouting out coffee runs, and the onslaught of work and strategy conversations that ensues.

If I could I would arrive at work an hour before I do, I would. Those early hours seem more meaningful, more fruitful, more focused, more free.

But too early isn't always time better spent.

How about you, when do you get to work and how early do you think is too early?

Is spending more the only way to measure America?

The economy has readjusted, and even as the unemployed gain new footholds in the workplace, the newly employed haven't buoyed the economy past ricocheting between good news and not-so-good news.

According to a recent MediaPost blog by Thom Forbes, consumers are “fickle.” They spend with exuberance one month and dwell in consumerism dumps the next.

Perhaps, it's not that the consumer is fickle so much as realistic.

Once that lower paying job is secured, pent up demand produces a short spurt of spending, but as the bank account refuses to fill as quickly as before, the newly employed pull back and give greater attention to the future and how those scant income dollars should be spent.

Consumer boomerang spending has caused some large retailers to lower sales projections, Forbes reports. Necessities gain dominance on the shopping list and excess is sliced off to buy groceries, socks and laundry soap for clean underwear. This new frugalism is wrought with negative consequences for the economy.

Lynn Franco, director of the economic Indicators Conference board, calls it “a weakening in consumers’ economic and job expectations.” Again, perhaps it is less a weakening and more an awakening.

Life isn't always about new, better, best.

Today, basic need speaks more to America’s working class. And when the majority of the population is at need level, the pinnacle few live at an unrelenting pace while analysts complain and philosophize about why the remaining majority can’t quite keep up and resort to name calling. Consumers are criticized as “tight fisted.”

Here’s reality: Jobs are farther from home. It costs more to get to that new job. Thank rising gas prices for that.

New jobs require new training. It costs more brain power to arrive fully armed for that new position, absconding with energy normally allotted for leisure time activities.

So, what’s a nation to do?

Perhaps ask the question why spending more money than the year before is the only answer analysts can uncover on how to be a better America.

What would happen if we measured differently?

Instead of measuring success in the acquiring of the latest, greatest, newest, how about the latest skill?

Learned anything new lately?

Do tell.

---

'Journalist' receives first hate mail

I have now been called a journalist and have received my first hate mail.

One of my friends who formally worked at a newspaper and who truly has journalism training writes, "Get used to it, unfortunately."

Here is the problem, I am extremely complimented that someone thinks I'm a journalist.

The down side is that they compared me to a sports reporter -- 'sarcastic and lacking in self esteem.'

The person also suggested I get a job in marketing.




If you knew me, that last line would be funny.

How to write a resignation letter

This time last year, I was mentally preparing to walk into my boss' office and give notice.

I'd spent a good deal of time crafting what I felt was a straightforward resignation letter. What took so much time was working through all the verbiage that, momentarily, would make me feel triumphant, but would be less than professional and not reflective of my career.

I'd invested a lot in the company – probably over invested myself – so I wanted a sense of dignity to hallmark my exit.

Here's what I said:

It is with utmost appreciation that I celebrate the talent gathered here and am so grateful for the resources that have been invested in me for both professional and personal development.

I am resigning my position as Advertising Saies Manager and look forward to gathering what you need from me in the final days of my tenure ending January 14, 2011.

Sincerely,

Carol Doane

Here's what I felt:


Elated.

Sad.

It's been an educational year. Not what I'd expected.

NEW disruptive technology: rest and reflect

In honor of Columbus Day, I took Monday off from blogging, and (going backwards) Sunday, Saturday, Friday and Thursday. Illness, albeit brief, kept me from any thoughtful musings on that fateful non-blogging Thursday, and then in the scramble to catch up, it wasn't until last night that I counted the missed days.

Blogging is useful as a goal process – there is much to be said about deciding to do something and then actually doing it – and for a writer, the practice of writing everyday creates a groove in the brain that propels continuous ideas.

The challenge is to keep writing, no matter what.

At the first of the year when I changed jobs, I noticed that writing on my fiction manuscript slowed. When the new job morphed into more management responsibilities (I got a promotion) my fiction writing slowed to a trickle. Then stopped.

I filled the fiction writing void with blogging. I weighed in on several topics: non-profits helped by Dining for Women, the cool things that Umpqua Bank is doing, how the Internet disrupts family relationships, the psychology of negotiating, struggling with email and what gets in the way of accomplishing our goals.

I wrote about the results of blogging everyday. For seven weeks I blogged about the analytics that resulted of consistent blogging. I served up my favorite quotes from things I read or heard.

And I mulled over why I had stopped writing fiction.

The manuscript, that is currently in the works, is inching close to a part that is emotionally powerful, potentially explosive and crafting it well can define who I am as a writer. I've taken classes by Bill Johnson who wrote, A Story is a Promise. He would pose the theory that halting writing at this critical juncture would intimate that I'm afraid of the emotions the manuscript unveils.

I don't think I'm afraid at all.

But what if I am?

The only thing that cures fear is to face it. This week I plan to open the WORD doc of my manuscript and re-read it. The consecutive blogging is disrupted. The manuscript has rested long enough. I've had some well days to reflect.

I'm curious to know what will happen next.

If it's not too scary, I'll let you know.

Extraordinary Measures: the movie, the media and me

A news organization spent a year in a $42 million environment, a beautiful open space of larger-than-life cubicles, water that tasted good, and air that felt fresh when everyone breathed in the new ambiance.

Televisions ran 24/7 throughout the third floor. Televisions played silently in a comfortable lunch room stocked with super-sized vending machines, double refrigerators, double microwaves, double giant toasters. On every floor large glass panels etched with company history separated break rooms from open spaces.

This was a space so expansive gawkers on the second floor watched Faith Ford deliver lines flawlessly for an infomercial filmed in the lobby.

This was a space so unique that Harrison Ford brought in his crew and filmed Extraordinary Measures on the second floor.

It rewarded managers and some supervisors with individual offices.

Automatic prestige.

Automatic assumption the company was doing well.

Automatic everything...including failure.

I worked for the news organization that built the building.

After a year in the new digs, we nodded our heads in sweet recollection of our luxury accommodations, tidied up after ourselves, and waved good bye. We returned to our roots—the original building that the company had been unable to sell or lease.

Thank goodness.

Upon our reentry at our original structure, employees began calling it the 'old building.' I hated that term. I am acutely aware of how semantics affect how we view our situation and coined the company phrase, 'the classic building.'

About the same time I started my more work oriented Twitter account and pegged myself as @TheClassicCarol, and included this bio: "The Classic Carol returns to the classic building. We create our future. We are the media's future. Build our community: get out there and sell something!"

I've amended that several times. The Classic Carol is not so much about work as about thought, opinion, and ideas.

Just like the building and the bad economy, that spiraled the news organization into reorganization, I reorganized my twitter, my bio, and my blog. Within a year of the company's successful emergence from bankruptcy, I left. I reorganized myself, too.

I'm glad I got to experience both the new building and the return to the classic building. There was a lot of risk taking to throw the shovel into the ground and build a $42 million building and I learned from that. But tere was a lot we lost when we headed for brand-spanking new. There was a lot we gained when we returned to the synergy of our roots.

There was a lot of extraordinary people who returned tp the classic building and were glad to have a career they loved and a place where they could practice their craft. I learned from that, too.

Do what you love and love what your doing until you can do something different, even if it takes extraordinary measures.

If it's your anniversary and nobody says anything, did it happen?

As I write this I realize, had I been at my old job I would have celebrated my 30th Anniversary.

It is rare in today's climate to work for a company for more than a decade, let alone two. I almost reached three.

It is rarer still, after 30 years, to leave and not retire.

To survive the old job as long as I did I had to morph, flex, mature, morph, flex and mature some more. I survived some incredibly bad bosses. I had the pleasure of working with some incredibly good ones. I was an average sales rep, grew into an above average revenue producer and built a stellar experience.

I was promoted to supervisor, and soon thereafter to Advertising Sales Manager.

I knew the business inside and out. I knew the community from the west to east. I wore a suit and served on the Board of Directors of the Portland Advertising Federation. I pulled on jeans and served on the Board of Directors of the Clark County Fair.

Near the end, I could have done my job with my eyes closed and slept my way into retirement.

Instead, I left.

I learned something about myself. I learned I was thoughtful yet decisive. For months I considered the move, but I decided the day of one interview

I was willing to give up the world I had known since my early twenties to launch myself into the complete unknown. I was a risk taker. Who leaves a secure job to go work for a start-up? Me, I guess.

Upon arrival at the new port, I had to morph, flex, reflect, and learn while running faster than I could have imagined. I've had the pleasure of meeting incredible people. I've had to say goodbye to other incredible people. I stepped in to fill a hole and received a promotion.

During the first months I would hear myself say, "I can't believe I left."

I don't say that anymore.

A lot of thoughts and baggage gets lost in the hectic pace of how I drive my life, my career and my writing. What doesn't get lost are the people. My calendar 'pop-ups' tell me who's celebrating a birthday and who's celebrating a company anniversary. That may create a phone call, an email, a tweet from me and occasionally a celebration lunch.

Then I sit back and reflect, that on the 29th anniversary, no one said a word.

The day slipped by only recognized by me in the middle of a decision process.

The wordless reception of something significant was not reason to leave. But it was a reason not to stay?

School Zone: 35 mph 99% fatality risk

School zone speeding statistics from the Vancouver, Washington Police Department.

---

Eat. Hydrate. Think.

Lessons can be learned in any number of venues.

I found this to be true.

Yesterday.

In preparing for the holiday weekend I realized I should have eaten earlier. I should have drank more water, sooner. I should have washed the RV a week prior.

And I should have unhooked the RV's shoreline before driving out of the driveway.

Some lessons are costly dollar-wise. Some are costly career-wise.

Make sure you eat, drink and think before attempting your next turn onto the highway.

Great is the enemy of good and other things I learned from blogging

I fidgeted in the chair and reached for the cup of coffee. I took a quick sip and listened to the question. I let it hang in the space between us. I took another sip and I mulled it over. A smile snuck across my face, I settled the cup down, looked directly at the gentleman who could potentially promote me and said:

"If there are two roads
leading to my destination,

Both roads will get me to my
destination at the same time,

One is stalled in traffic,
and the other moving slowly,

I will always choose the road that is moving."

If you're moving there's hope.

I went into my 30 days in a row blogging project with the same thought. Get moving. Do it now. Maybe it won't be perfect, but the practice of contributing each day will get you closer to where you want to be.

If you're moving you may get inventive, prove you own American ingenuity and figure out a better, faster, more efficient way to get to your destination.

Luck might happen.

In my previous posts, I shared snippets of what I learned. It's not about making money, it's about moving along the path of contributing, building your brand, finding your voice. Readers will come if you add something new on a consistent basis.

I discovered I seldom sat down knowing what to write about, but the fact that I managed an editorial calendar--a semblance of a plan--gave me a place to start, a way to move into traffic, even if I was moving slowly. A certain amount of glee arose when I mangled my own calendar by moving things off and giving some a swift kick to infinity when they didn't come together as I'd hoped.

But.

I didn't get any complaints.

I got viewers.

If you try and make a post perfect it will never happen. It's not like print, you're not sending out 50,000 copies with a blatant mistake that you'll regret and beat yourself up for. It's online. It's one page that you can edit over and over and over again. People will help you edit, they'll correct your grammar, they'll leave funny comments, you'll engage, you'll laugh and you'll be part of a virtual community.

Here's what the participating in the virtual community taught me...

Lessons Learned from Blogging:
1. Having a goal means you can measure your success
2. Having a plan, in this case a calendar, gives you direction
3. Mistakes are not forever, community will help you correct them
4. Everyday there is a new deadline
5. You have 24 hours to make the deadline

And there's plenty of do-overs. Not every post was a home run. But as a friend of mine said recently, “Great is the enemy of good.”

Sometimes when we're trying so hard to be great, to seek quality, we forget all that anyone wants from us is to be there, to be present, to be good in the moment, to be good enough. To create something today, so that we have a shot at tomorrow. And maybe, just maybe, while we're striving to be good something great will happen.

Did great things happen for me? Well, when the interview was over, I was not promoted. But the disciplined effort to blog everyday led to local, national, and even international attention.

More on that tomorrow.

---

If you'd like to read the other posts in the blogging series, try these:

1.

What I learned from Jeremiah Owyang
that allowed me to take down Google*
*Almost

2.

Tips for blogging everyday

3.

Great is the enemy of good and other
things I learned from blogging

4.

How blogging is like throwing stones

5.

How blogging for 30 days in a row
leads to international acclaim

Tips for blogging everyday

Keep it in motion.

Yesterday, I disclosed my genius idea to take down Google by offering free ads on my blog. The disclosure was made mid-stream on a post about choosing to be a consistent blogger.

Before I began my 'daily blogging' journey I was actually on a different path. I had planned to write a post to help other people blog. A few ideas had been percolating. The first one was to create a great check-off list from ideas I'd gleaned around the web.

Tips for Bloggers:
1. Start with clear objectives
2. Develop a strategy
3. Keep content focused on a topic
4. Have an editorial calendar
5. Measure based on objectives
6. Integrate social tools, allow logins from social networks
7. Encourage for word of mouth (WOM), integrate into all you do
8. Most effective blogs are conversational or controversial
9. Treat your site (and you) as it's own company or brand
10% for fun, stuff you ♥

I never posted my list.

I decided to live it.

My objective would be to test the theory that posting with consistency changes the world. I wasn't sure how it would change my world, but I knew that it would.

My strategy was to post for thirty days in a row. It was June 18 and that month I'd only posted sporadically. Exactly nine times. I began with earnest on July 19.

360 Convos had its incubation when I wanted to write about business topics, as opposed to blogging on fiction writing and life themes, the center point of my other website. When I was building the strategy for this daily blogging adventure for 360 Convos, I considered a wide array of topics. In staying with item three on the above list, I decided to keep the content focused on business.

I did not keep the content focused on business. (I'm practicing, not shooting for perfection). I did, however, learn a few lessons while blogging everyday:

Jot down blog ideas whenever they occur. Do not use paper for this.

The best place a blogger can jot down ideas is somewhere online. I chose a Google calendar. No, I haven't taken Google down, yet. I still find most of their products useful. In keeping with item four on the list noted above, I dubbed my Google amenity Editorial Calendar and made it public.

I wrote down measurements to evaluate my success (item 5). I integrated social media and made sure the icons were large and easy to find (item 6):

Icons courtesy of PRLloyd

I talked about my blog (WOM). I left a screen up on my computer at work and reeled in a co-worker. I played around with style – conversational and tested controversial by using the word 'hell' in a headline. I sought a parental tone, I toyed with a touch of PR. I made a confession and made a personal disclosure that had left me dry-mouthed with guilt. I paraded a cute kitten. I preached to myself. I preached to no one else. I outed myself as a distracted parent (more than once).

I aggregated.

I fell asleep, not just once but twice.

I treated my blogging journey as a job. I treated my blog as its own company. I integrated my online presence and it became part of my personal branding strategy.

I love to write. I had fun.

I learned that when I was clueless about what to write about, I could refer to my editorial calendar and pick up exactly where my brain had left off. I learned I was in charge of the calendar and could change it when another topic felt more important. I learned I could take on a writing assignment – I could write not just for me, but for someone else as well.

Library Director abruptly retires
after correcting 360 Convos post.

After I pulled the trigger on my starting post, Literacy is the key to the internet, I received an email. A community member chose to send me a kind note, instead of lambasting me in the comments section on my disarray of facts. (I didn't know the difference between a bond and a levy). He coached me through several re-postings, so I could be accurate, mostly.

(Thank you Bruce Ziegman).

The effort to exchange those eleven emails and set me straight, apparently taxed Ziegman beyond his literary capabilities. Two and a half weeks later, he announced his retirement. Today, August 22, is my 35th consecutive post. I have no idea who will give up and retire today because of it.

Today, is my 35th consecutive post. I have no idea who will give up and retire because of it.

What I do know is that the disciplined effort to blog everyday taught me life lessons.

More on that tomorrow.

---

If you'd like to read the other posts in the blogging series, try these:

1.

What I learned from Jeremiah Owyang
that allowed me to take down Google*
*Almost

2.

Tips for blogging everyday

3.

Great is the enemy of good and other
things I learned from blogging

4.

How blogging is like throwing stones

5.

How blogging for 30 days in a row
leads to international acclaim

Would you like to clean up your desk, or would you like me to?

Actual desk used by someone Carol Doane knows.
People who know Carol may have seen this desk.

What's the worst desk you've seen lately, yours or someone else's?

---

Interrupted internet access causes depression

People deprived of internet access feel upset and lonely according to a recent report on the Daily Mail.



What about people deprived of mothers, fathers and other family members who spend too much time online or on their phones?

For the past four years I served as a Director on the Clark County Fair Board. The second Tuesday of each month my daughter waved goodbye as I toodled off to board meetings. She didn't mind the time I invested, she loved the fair and experienced it herself through 4-H. She even took her Bolognese dog to the Washington State Fair where they won a blue ribbon.

Looking for next step, she became a founding member of the junior fair board. They're like a little start-up, raising funds before the fair and trying to figure out what they can add to the venue that no else is working on. My daughter's role was to create and post signs outside the barns of the day's events. For nine of those days she performed her duties without a co-hort who would make it fun.

She invited me to spend a day with her.

Yesterday, a Friday, I headed to Delfel Road on the outskirts of the county and landed square in the middle of the fair festivities.

Then my iPhone bleated.

Issue at work.

I bent my head over the oblong glass of my thin digital equipment. I tapped out a response. I made a call to clarify. I texted a few more times. I flipped through a few apps and responded to email. Closing in on noon, we stopped for a two-fer at the burger stand and the phone bleated like a new born goat.

By late afternoon, I learned a lesson that had nothing to do with local commerce, animal herdsmanship, fitting and showing, what to buy to have softer skin, or how to prepare quick family meals.

"I thought it would be fun to share the fair with you," complained my teenager. "But you spent the whole time looking at your phone."

As I pulled out of the parking lot, I realized she was right. I even had a kink in my neck.

We began our adventure not on the same page. She had wanted to buy a dream catcher, which we had done, but I thought she had already picked one out and just wanted to show it to me and have me buy it for her. What she really wanted was for the two of us to wander through every booth offering them for sale, discuss the merits of each, and then decide together which one to buy.

She didn't want a credit card, she wanted a day with mommy. And even at almost sixteen she enjoys calling me mommy. I thought taking care of a work issue would allow me to let go of the office and enjoy the day. Simple exchanges and assumptions did not define what her intent was, nor bring clarity to me of what role she wanted me to play.

If interrupted internet access causes depression, what are the results of an interrupted family?

If I win, do you lose?

Free Throw update from Court Crandall on Vimeo.

What always seems to divides us is a line. Sometimes the line is a border, a property boundary, a perceived sense of difference between co-workers, ethnic or religious groups, or sometimes it's as simple as a free throw line.

Eight high school students stood at the line. They threw their hopes in the air and took a shot at one $40,000 college scholarship.

According to Rob Kuznia's article, Free-Throwing His Way to College, any high school senior with a GPA of 3.0 or better at Compton High in Compton, Calif. was eligible to enter the competition. Out of approximately 500 seniors, only 80 qualified. The original 80 had been boiled down to eight who lined up to get out of Compton.

I don't blame them. Compton High would not make my list of 'schools I want to send my kids to.'

Education.com reports that on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, Compton scores a three on when it comes to test scores. In 2008, only 69% of the teachers were fully credentialed, and more than half the students were eligible for free or reduced price lunch programs.

Yet, despite these challenges eight Compton high schoolers had been accepted into college. They just didn't know how they would pay for it. For them, the line was drawn between sad reality versus unlimited potential — if they could only out shoot their biggest competitor, who had also qualified, Allan Guei the basketball captain.

They took their best shots.

Then the basketball athlete stepped up.

It wasn't all doom and gloom. By showing up and trying, each one of them had automatically earned at least $1,000 towards college. But $1,000 is not $40,000 and college isn't cheap.

Sure, they had a chance. But really the basketball star?

Court Crandall, one of the owners of Wong, Doody, Crandall, Wiener, a Seattle/Los Angeles advertising firm conceived the contest, produced the event and subsequently the documentary that will be shopped at places like Sundance.

"I thought the free throw is a good metaphor in a world where there's a bunch of lines that are kind of dividing us," mused Crandall.

He was right, the free throw line rallied the students behind a common cause and like every bad contest it divided the winner from the losers. The winner in this case was indeed, Allan Guei, the basketball captain.

Guei sounds like a good kid. The columnist who wrote about this, Rob Kuznia, reports that after winning, Guei said, "Today was an exciting day. Last night, me and my parents, we prayed about it. We just left it in God’s hands.”

In this case, God's hands are as intriguing as Guei's. Three months after winning $40,000, Guei opened his hands and released his winnings. He's not dividing it, he's giving it all away. The students who competed with him at the free throw line will split it. The rest of the story is that Guei received a full ride at Cal-State Northridge, he felt blessed, it led him to share.

Like a mom who winds up to warn her kids about choices and regrets, I worry that something bad will happen to Guei, and he'll wish he hadn't done that. But I don't want the documentary to end with regrets. Nor do I want to be cynical about the acres of press this has generated for the marketing firm.

I want to say, sometimes the lines that divide us can be as artificial as a line drawn on the floor. I'd like to muse that when a co-worker steps up to the line to perform, if they do a good job and shine, it doesn't leave the rest of us tarnished. I want to banish our fear that if someone else 'wins' we lose. I want to applaud the kid who started with so little and had his plate of blessings piled high, but didn't take all the winnings home.

We need to fight against self-interest and be a good team member or at least a good sport. If we're going to compete, we need to compete with ourselves to be the best simple, human being we can be.

Who knows what will happen when we cross that line.

---

Read more:
Student splits 40K in winnings runners-up 
Free-throwing his way to college

Brain atrophy. Can the internet be blamed?

Embedded in the city of Oxford in England is the University's Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences dedicated to research. Deep in their neuorology halls they document, debate and decipher brain changes.

One of the methods employed is called SIENA (Structural Image Evaluation, using Normalisation, of Atrophy). SIENA uses 'brain extraction' tools, along with others that don't sound quite as extreme.

I stumbled on this research after reading an article by Nonprofit Tech 2.0 called 11 Nonprofit Websites Designed for the Social Web, and from there tried to find more out about the conclusions they made. The nonprofit article noted that social media is not only changing how we communicate, but it's also "changing how our brains process information."

Nonprofit Tech encourages their readers to use this information to change outdated concepts of website design, stating, "design principles of just five years ago no longer apply." They propose that websites should have less text, more images, more video, and larger social networking icons. Progressive sites would employ simple navigation, offer ease of subscribing to e-newsletters, and make it obvious how to "Donate Now." The resource they quoted came from the Nominet Trust.

I reviewed the Nominet Trust documents they sourced. Nominet states that our online well-being comes not only from protecting our online privacy, but also understanding how digital technologies effect our OFF-line life, as well.

What do we do with all this information?

The Nominet report exhorts parents to monitor online use by younger children and monitor older students use of instant messaging. Online is basically a massive distraction that causes the brain to atrophy.

To combat this, they made some sound suggestions, kids should get more sleep, more exercise, and  schools should take action to teach about overuse of online during learning hours. The report also noted, "More research is needed in a number of areas, to help evaluate the risks."

I'm wondering if common sense could give us the same understanding.

I'm less cranky when I get a good night's sleep.

I'm less irritable when I actually accomplish something versus wandering aimlessly around online, only answering an occasional email, but not enough to actually clear out my inbox.

The brain research will continue in England. Brains will grow and recede. Before mine completely dissipates, I'd like to get to the bottom of this.

Let's you and I cut to the chase. What does your personal research tell you — are you happier online or offline?

---

Read more:
Copy of the Nominet Trust study, download pf a PDF:
The impact of digital technologies on human wellbeing.

---

Since the post, these references have popped on brain and the Internet:

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POSTED	BRIEF	LINK
July 22, 2011	UC Berkeley research on 24 adults determined viewing content on stereo 3D display hurts eyes and brain. Eye constantly adjusts to both distance of physical screen and that of 3D content, reaction to placement of sound is different for iPhone and movie screen. End result is visual discomfort, fatigue, headaches.	3D Hurts Your Eyes (and brain)
	-

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UPDATED 7-24-11

More people spoke positively about kittens this week

Find out who the top kitten influencers via this SlideShare presentation on social media monitoring from Eric Portelance.

The presentation walks us through measuring 'engaged users' of a brand (engaged user=customer), and helps us identify if there is value in distinguishing between the volume of customer engagement vs. the consistency of engagement. For instance, is it better to listen to someone who tweets a lot about your brand for a concise period of time, or better to pay attention to someone who tweets moderately over a longer period of time?

The slicing of the information for the pilot study of Nikon encourages us to consider our own ardent fans, and to understand what they all have in common, i.e., are they iPhone or Blackberry users? Do they drink coffee or tea, and what are their preferred beverage brands, for instance are they Starbucks customers or more likely to plant themselves at the locally owned alternative?

Dig in. Learn what's more important, influencing or building relationships. BUT first, before you view the presentation, vote for one -- influencer or relationship builder.

Social Media Monitoring - Finding Relationships

So, tell me, what do you know about your best fans?

Unlocking better habits is like winding a watch

Unlocking the blue door for the last time.

I pulled out an old watch I hadn't worn in a decade. The time on it's tiny face had stopped. I threw it in my pocket and at lunch dropped into the local jeweler to buy a battery to get it revved up again. The jeweler grinned and fiddled with the watch. "It doesn't have a battery. It's the wind up kind."

My head came up sharply and felt my face flush. I eyed him. He didn't smirk or comment on what an idiot it was to visit his establishment. He gazed down at the work at hand and rolled his thumb and forefinger over the tiny gold button-gear. When the watch was ticking solidly he handed it back.

I left the store and stopped at the corner before crossing Evergreen Boulevard and paused. How much of life do I expect to happen automatically? How much do I take for granted because it takes so little effort, takes nothing more than a sliver of metal that converts the chemical energy contained in its active materials into electrical energy that performs phenomenal tasks?

I take too much for granted.

One of the things I took for granted is the phenomenal team I worked with at the paper. On my final day, I bemoaned the fact that I hadn't praised enough, hadn't acknowledge the many simple and complex tasks people did to make the company a success.

I made my confession during my exit interview and the human resources manager didn't criticize or add fuel to the fire of my personal guilt. She simply said, "Take the learning experience forward, and do it better."

I think if we're smart and attentive we can learn from the mistakes of others. There isn't a need for all of us to make the same mistakes. So, turn to the person next to you and think about something that they do to make a difference in your company, in your community, or in your life.

Tell them.

Say it sincerely.

Unlocking better habits is like winding a watch. You have to do it everyday. If you don't, your watch or your good habits stop. There is no battery of life to keep you on track and ticking except your own desire.

So, to my phenomenal team, who pursues their dreams in a great media company, I say, "No one can do what you do as well as you. You are the best. I'm so glad I had a chance to work with you.

"You made me better."