Archive for April, 2010
Follow Friday – Week One
Apr 23rd
While the concept of Follow Friday on Twitter seems like a great idea, I rarely follow anyone my “Followers” suggest. It’s not that I don’t care or don’t want to follow anyone new (quite the opposite), but it often lacks the context I need to determine if those suggestions will be valuable to me. To me, it makes about as much sense as going on a blind date without getting any background information on the person you’re about to meet.
For this reason, I’ve decided to dedicate a post each Friday to suggesting my favorite people on Twitter – and give the reasons why I think you might benefit from following them. Not everyone on my list will be a good fit for you, but that’s kind of the point.
So without further adieu, here’s my inaugural list…
1.) @TMetzner: Tim was a college roommate of mine for five years at The University of Cincinnati. While I spent most of my time at DAAP working on my design degree, he was highly involved with the Honors-PLUS program. Today, Tim serves as the Marketing and Social Media manager for SparkPeople.com, the internet’s largest (and best) health and wellness website. Aside from being incredibly motivated and sincere, Tim always has his pulse emerging technologies, market trends, and business opportunities. (And did I mention he has a wicked jump shot?)
2.) @LynetteShy: I met Lynette at a karaoke bar in the summer of 2005. Shortly after I became a member of SNAP! Performance Productions, and the rest, they say, is history. Over the past 5 years, I have worked very closely with Lynette to develop and grow SNAP! into Columbus’s premier volunteer performance group. She is one of those people who is passionate about everything she does and knows how to get things done. She is also one of the most caring, personable leaders you will ever meet. If you like quirky, funny, inspiring, sometimes-dance-related tweets – Lynette is your gal.
3.) @Christina_Lynn: Since using Twitter, I have been shocked at how many talented, connected, helpful people there are in Columbus – and Christina is no exception. Wise beyond her years and eager to help people succeed, Christina uses her skills as the Digital Marketing Manager at a local non-profit. She is a great source of information for Columbus residents and half-marathoners alike.
Kitchen Renovation, Skyline Chili & “Faiths”
Apr 9th
As one of my real estate mentors says, “Busy yourself, and good things are bound to happen.” Yesterday was one of those magical days.
For the past two years, my fiancé and I have been renovating our 1919-built home. It has been a long process, one that often seemed like it would never end. But we kept our heads down, stayed focused, worked hard, and poured our time and heart into turning our house into a home.
Through a number of serendipitous events, we were approached by Faith Durand – Managing Editor of Apartment Therapy’s website, TheKitchn – who just so happens to live in Columbus. After a year of conflicting schedules and back-and-forth via email, we finally set up a time for her to stop by and see what we had done to the place.
The result was a fabulous article and photo gallery about our kitchen renovation. We are so happy to be featured on their amazing website and are proud to have inspired so many people (via the comments on the post). Thank you Faith and Apartment Therapy for allowing us to share our home with the web!
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“Busy yourself, and good things are bound to happen…”
As I wrote in my last post, one of my goals for 2010 has been to expand my personal network by meeting new people online and in person. So yesterday I decided to attend my first “Skyline Chili Connoisseur Club” meeting. Coordinated by Rocky VanBrimmer, the SCCC was a fantastic gathering of fifty or so local business people who come together once a month to network and share their love of Cincinnati’s finest chili.
I was glad to finally put a face to so many of the names I have chatted with on Twitter, but I was shocked (and pleased) when I was able to shake hands with Kevin McDonnell – CEO of Skyline Chili. I was also glad to learn that NBC4 had caught wind of the event and sent out a camera crew to cover the event.
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“Busy yourself, and good things are bound to happen…”
At the end of the day, I traveled to The Pub at Polaris to meet with the other directors of SNAP! Performance Productions to discuss our upcoming Spring Show in May. It was there that I received the best news of the day…
A few weeks back, someone contacted SNAP! with an unusual (but touching) request. A young girl named Faith had recently been diagnosed with an inoperable and terminal brain tumor. Because the doctors are unsure how long Faith may have, her family decided to throw her a “Christmas in December” party this weekend and (in an effort to make the party as authentic as possible) asked if we would be interested in sending over some “carolers.” The request fit SNAP!’s mission perfectly, so we were honored to accept the invitation.
As word of Faith’s Christmas party traveled through our cast, her story landed on generous ears. An anonymous donor has agreed to not only help with the cost of the party this weekend, but has also pulled some string to present Faith with an absolutely amazing opportunity.
I can’t let the cat out of the bag (as we haven’t even told Faith’s family yet), but I am overwhelmed by the generosity and support of our cast and patrons to make such an opportunity available to such a deserving little girl.
If you would like to learn more about Faith, or help her family with a monetary donation, you can visit her website – http://HelpFaith.com