The Beneficial Consequences of Social Meandering

I happened upon this image as I was snooping around trying to find out more about an old friend, Steve McKeown, who I found (stumbled upon) via Facebook earlier today. Steve lived around the corner from me in Framingham. We didn’t really hang out much but he was a good guy, so I pinged him to say hello. It was nice to ’see’ him, and it brought back all sorts of memories and smiles.

It is exactly this sort of serendipity that makes Facebook such a wonderful thing. I don’t have many conversations on there and in fact feel a little uncomfortable sharing much about me and my life online in that way. (I bore most of my friends with social media stuff instead). But there’s a sort of goodness in making those little connections. Especially the unexpected ones.

My friend Stephen (vs. the Photographer Stephen, not the same person) notes on Facebook that he’s not sure what to do with it (Facebook). My advice to anyone out there reading this: Just go with it. If YOU stumble upon people who bring a smile to your face, friend them. Just make the connection. It might go further and it might not, but it just might lead to goodness of one kind or another.

By the way, I find it interesting that the photographer’s site is entirely dedicated to the late race car driver Tom Herron and this is the only unrelated photo on his site. Also interesting is that upon drilling into this  photographer’s links, I found (stumbled upon) many motorsports links that are most definitely going to be of value to me and a company I’m working with – Motorsports Marketing Resources.

And so it goes. Meander away – you never know what you’ll find.

Just make sure you have a place to stash all those links you stumble upon yourself!

Do you have any stories to share about your own social meanderings??

Who knew a walk on a bridge would be so wonderful?

Yesterday was a banner day. Not only was it gorgeous, our girls both had afternoon play dates and sleepovers. Somewhere else !!!

So Steve and I took total advantage and set off on an adventure to Portsmouth, NH (Steve’s choice) and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. What a great town! The galleries were fabulous – I especially liked the Hand-blown Glass studio and a few of the crafts boutiques.

Raw Bar at Jumpin Jays. Yum.

We had dinner at Jumpin Jay’s after checking out some reviews on Chowhound etc. and it was fun and funky even at 5:30 (that’s when we could get a reservation, although we could have walked in any time up til  6:15ish no problem). Highly recommend the mussels there – best EVER. Seriously. Skip the pasta provencale (although the scallops on it were amazing). Would go back in a heartbeat!There was also a folk festival at Prescott Park which we enjoyed as we walked around the waterfront (there is an incredible array of activities in Portsmouth – fairs, festivals, concerts – who knew??!!)

Prescott Park Arts Festival on the Portsmouth, NH Waterfront

The ride was easy, parking was $.75/hour, a very energetic, nice, walkable town. We’ll be going back for sure! And the stroll across the bridge into Portland, ME was excellent – a very special way to watch the sun set.

Other places we’ll check out next time:  The Monkey Bar, maybe a cruise, drinks on the waterfront, a nearby beach. And we might try to get back for Richie Havens, who will be playing at Prescott Park on Wed. July 29th. (Want to join us??)

Even better (don’t get me wrong, I love my kids) was one-on-one time with Steve, sleeping in, and waking up (on MY terms) to a beautiful sunny (and quiet) morning!

U.S. shares blame in Mexico drug violence, senators say – Los Angeles Times

U.S. shares blame in Mexico drug violence, senators say – Los Angeles Times.

Josh is a reporter for the LA Times and has been covering the Terrorism beat for years; with recent changes he’s has moved over to the Department of Justice. He is also my brother.

In a Senate hearing, lawmakers say Washington’s inattention to decades of drug use by Americans has played a central role in the bloodshed south of the border.

By Josh Meyer  (March 18, 2009

Reporting from Washington — Efforts by Mexico and the United States to stem the skyrocketing border drug and weapons trade are failing, and both countries are to blame for the rise of violent cartels responsible for more than 6,000 deaths in Mexico last year, lawmakers and experts said in a Senate hearing Tuesday.

For years, elected officials in Washington portrayed Mexico as being largely responsible for the problems spawned by the increasingly powerful crime syndicates — and for fixing them.

30+ Apps for Doing Business on Facebook

30+ Apps for Doing Business on Facebook.

In my continuing quest to help others use tools better, more efficiently, and more expertly (without having to figure it all out themselves), I wanted to share this blog post with you. It’s from Josh Peters, a freelance social media consultant from Salt Lake City, Utah. He authors a blog at Shuaism.com.

“Think LinkedIn is the only place for business? Facebook is growing rapidly and it’s becoming a destination for businesses and business professionals alike to establish a presence. Here are over 30 Facebook applications to help promote, network, communicate, collaborate and accomplish more with your business.”

Click on the link to view the entire post – it’s a keeper for sure.

Do you have any suggestions or best practices that simplify online communications, marketing, or outreach??

If you’re USING any of these tools and ideas already, what do you think?? Which are your favorites??

Submit To All Social Bookmarking Websites At Once | BloggerStop.Net – Blogger Help, Templates, Widgets

I’m on a mission to help streamline all the tools and processes around using social applications for personal and business use.

Aggregators are things that take one act and repeat it for you automatically, so you can concentrate on the real value of finding and commenting on things that you feel are useful or important. Create a post and share it so that anyone anywhere can find it, using any platform.

Submit To All Social Bookmarking Websites At Once | BloggerStop.Net – Blogger Help, Templates, Widgets.

TypePad One: An EXCELLENT Training Resource for Bloggers

Right now I am using WordPress for my blogs, but this resource page from TypePad, another excellent blogging platform, can be extremely helpful.

TypePad’s excellent online resource for business bloggers bloggers

TypePad offers a valuable service by sharing free blogging classes on things such as basics, SEO (search engine optimization – how to make it easy for people to find what you want them to find about you and your business online), and business blogging best practices etc.

That’s just the beginning, but it’s a great place to learn more. And their blogging tools are great too! Check out my friends’ blogs: Ron Miller and David Meerman Scott – both use TypePad and are excellent examples of clean, functional, info-packed blogs.

TypePad One: The Resource for Bloggers.

You can be an excellent blogger too — this resource page is a perfect place to start. If you need ideas to help you get started, let’s talk!!

Great Rioja, reasonably priced

Over Thanksgiving, my brother Josh and his fabulous girlfriend Michael visited us from DC. It was great to have some serious hang time with him, and one night some of Josh’s oldest friends came to visit. Of course they’re special people to me as well. Peter Epstein brought a great bottle of wine that I really really enjoyed – Thanks Pete!!

Nice and spicy but light and incredibly easy to drink, I highly recommend MARQUES de RISCAL Elciego (Alava) RIOJA (Reserva 2003). Priced under $20/bottle, it’s a great option to bring to a festive holiday event (or drink at home!).

The Proof Is In The Pudding – building a directory of E2.0 Successes

OK. Enterprise 2.0 is coming to Boston next week. My mission has become clear … and with it, my opportunity. Here goes. Let me know what you think, and feel free to start providing your own stories. You’ll see what I mean in a second.

So, I’ve been in the ECM business for 20 years now (how is that possible when I’m only 27, right?!). I am so excited about how Enterprise 2.0/Web 2.0 builds  on that to enable companies to be more socially responsible, relevent, and capable of supporting the real communication, collaboration, and WORK that people do. By giving the outside world a way IN, and the INSIDE world a better way to create and share content, a whole bunch of new opportunities arise.

The piece I want to own is this one … collecting the stories of those who have successfully implemented E2.0 solutions — traditional content, socially oriented platforms, SaaS-based solutions that let even the smallest companies realize the huge potential of WCM internally and customer-supplier-partner facing.

I’m going to travel around E2.0 with my handy dandy camcorder and interview as many people as I can about their success with E2.0, focusing on it’s value to them. Do I care how things work?? Not so much. Do I want to capture the essence of users implementations so someone who’s on the fence about E2.0 can feel more confident about their decision to move forward. ABSOLUTELY. Logos and contact info/links to your own blogs are welcome. Let’s push this agenda forward together!

So stay tuned. This will be the blog. The content is forthcoming. Feel free to start by sending me a comment that includes your name and company (or some legally acceptable, reasonable facsimile), the problem or opportunity you used E2.0 to address, and a short description of what you did, what problems you overcame, and a note or two about your solution (let’s give credit where credit is due). I’ll ping you back if you need more info, and I’ll be eternally grateful for your support in helping me build this valuable directory.

Thanks!