This last weekend my neice participated in the 2009 California Outrigger State Championships at Leadbetter Beach in Santa Barbara. It wasn't until Ashlyn shared a video off YouTube that I developed a whole new appreciation for her sport. What I adore is that she is so passionate about her racing. She is out there in the ocean working hard at something she loves and having a great time with her friends.
And congratulations to her and her team of 6 from Dana Outrigger the new 2009 Sprint Champions for their age division. Go girls go!
Here is a video of how long distance paddlers jump out of the canoe, new paddlers jump in. The canoe never stops.
I was 19 years old the summer of 1969. Richard Nixon was president. The Vietnam War was raging and Woodstock would not happen until August 15. 40 years ago this weekend Americans waited eagerly for Sunday morning, July 20th, to arrive. NASA was going to fulfill a dream that President John F. Kennedy spoke of in 1961. Some of us are old enough to remember this day quite clearly and so I thought that today I would share with you my walk on the moon memories on this 40th Anniversary. And yes, I do consider this a technology post...I mean really, man walking on the moon, now that is technical!
As I said, I was 19. I had moved back to San Diego from San Francisco on Memorial Day weekend 1969. The reason I remember the exact weekend is that my first husband and I drove from San Francisco to San Diego and we got stuck in traffic in San Clemente (stop laughing, Darin) on Interstate 5 for six (6) hours that weekend. The good news about that trip is that we were driving our brand new 1969 VW Beetle (air cooled engine), so idling on the freeway was just no big deal. But I digress...
I worked for Wells Fargo Bank and my husband was in college, so he had a summer job of some kind. We lived in a really small, strange apartment that seemed to look more like a motor home and we did not own a television. A friend of ours loaned us a TV to use for the summer. It was a black and white RCA television. This is the same year that saw such summer movie blockbusters as Midnight Cowboy and Easy Rider (both debuted in May 1969). If you have never seen either of these movies, rent them, they are classics.
As I said it was a Sunday morning and I don't know if NASA specifically planned this historic walk for a Sunday in order to allow more Americans to watch the show, but we got up early, the television went on and at exactly 20:17:40 UTC (GMT) the Eagle landed in our moon's Sea of Tranquility. That was 01:17:40PM PDT our time. Six and one-half hours later Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the moon's surface.
I have two distinct memories from that day: First, while waiting for the Eagle to land, the radio played Oliver's rendition of Good Morning Starshine. The words were perfect. (see the 1st YouTube Video below); Second, we watched the CBS coverage with Walter Cronkite and shared another life-altering event with him. (see 2nd YouTube video below).
And so today, as we begin the 40th Anniversary celebration of our Walk on the Moon, we remember with great respect and sadness the passing of Walter Cronkite last evening at the age of 92. And I will think back to the day so long ago that I sat in that little apartment, watched with wonder and together we wrote in our diary: "Today, man walked on the moon!"
P.S. In 1999 a movie was released as a tie in to the 30th Anniversary, A Walk on the Moon. This is another movie that many of you will enjoy.
This week we are the world. The world was all a twitter with tweets about the death of three American icons. These were three people from three generations.
On Tuesday our blogger honored Ed McMahon, who passed at age 86. McMahon was a gentleman that we welcomed into our homes for more than 30 years as Johnny Carson's sidekick among other roles.
Yesterday, our blogger honored Michael Jackson, who passed at age 50. This iconic legend who most of us have watched for the past 40 years, from a little boy to a grown man, always surprised us with his talent and creativity, among other things.
I will not let the week go by without honoring Farrah Fawcett, who passed at age 62. For those of us who are Farrah's peers by age, we remember her smile and her gorgeous hair. All the women wanted hair like Farrah and all the men wanted the women in their lives to have hair like Farrah. She was a fine actress and you would know this if you saw some of her more serious movies. Now she will be remembered as a brave woman who was willing to share with all of us her struggle with cancer to the end.
In this world filled with technology...twitter, plurk, tagged, YouTube, my space, facebook, emails, blogs...today is Saturday and it is just a day to remember that in January 1985 Michael Jackson collaborated with Lionel Richie and produced with Quincy Jones a song that touched us all. We are the World! (United Support of Artists for Africa) We listened intently, we bought the album and together we tried to help save a continent, most particularly Ethiopia.
As this day closes, I will remember that Dennis and I played this album with our children when they were quite young. The album is still in our home carefully preserved for whatever reason. Maybe because it made us think, hope and assure ourselves that we are all part of this world and this week We Are The World making a choice.
Enjoy this remarkable YouTube video of the studio recording of We Are The World. I'd would love to hear from you!
....change can only come...when we stand together as one!
About a week ago I sat in a wonderful Greek restaurant with my friend and client Will Bruzzo. Don't worry...Dennis was there, as well. I have known Will for at least five years. He is a successful criminal defense attorney in Orange County, California. While having lunch we talked about Will's parents, Aldo and Sarah. They own a villa and winery in Vicenza, Italy. Since 1985 Aldo and Sarah, with their son Alan, have been living the dream of owning an Italian vineyard.
As Will talked about their adventure he reminded me that Aldo and Sarah, whom I met a few years ago when they were visiting from Italy, have decided to retire and sell the villa and winery, Ca' Bruzzo. The beautiful Ca' Bruzzo Winery and Villa is for sale! Of course, my mind wandered back to 2003 when I first saw the movie, Under the Tuscan Sun, and I recalled how Dennis and I were both so taken by the story that we rushed home to see how easy would it be to purchase an Italian villa. Such dreams...now instead of living under the Tuscan sun, I find myself living under the Tucson sun!
But I digress...seriously, did you ever dream of changing your lifestyle, learning a new trade? I think we all do this from time to time. But every once in a while people actually take the plunge and just do it! So, if you find yourself at a crossroads in your life and want to think about starting a new chapter, then I invite you to check out Ca' Bruzzo. For all descriptive details and photos, you can visit Piedmont Properties. Here is a teaser...my own Picasa Web Album of Ca' Bruzzo.
Here is a YouTube video of Vicenza...enjoy.
Remember it is Saturday morning, the day for dreams. And when tonight comes, you might wish upon a star like a famous woodworker Geppetto and your dreams could come true.
Let me know if you decide to live your dream of owning an Italian vineyard.
Tubey, a new application for the iPhone, creates and posts movies to YouTube and Facebook.
Take your pictures. Assemble and order your shots. Choose your transitions. Choose your music from a wide selection of copyright free music. Add captions. Create your video. Post your video to YouTube or Facebook.
All from your iPhone. All from a single application.
This week I have been researching reported problems with Google maps. I have read through many forums, blogs, and news articles; however, last night I came across a Google forum in "Maps help". The topic was Incorrect information in Google Maps / local business center and the poster opens her post with this statement "To the poor already-beaten-up soul at Google who looks at and responds to these issues..." I implore you to read through this forum. It starts on April 1, 2009, and on April 6th Joel H Google Employee joins the forum to aid these Google users. Before you know it people are posting from all over the world and Joel H is being besieged with questions and he is responsive through April 22. Others keep posting but no word from Joel H. Where's Joel H Google employee?
I googled this phrase {Joel H Google employee} and found mention of him in other blog posts and other Google maps forums. I will say this, Joel H seems to want to help and if you read these forums carefully you will see he even admits when he is wrong.
I am going to give you two examples of what I have witnessed in Google maps for two of our clients.
La Fuente Restaurant in Tucson, AZ: Their Google map listing under local results for Mexican Restaurants Tucson AZ suddenly displayed the wrong domain name (that of a locksmith) and the wrong phone number.
Kingsleigh Inn Southwest Harbor, ME: Suddenly their Google map listing under local results for lodging Southwest Harbor ME disappeared; however, the inn next door to them is listed - including 78 reviews of the Kingsleigh and a number of photos of the Kingsleigh Inn!
I can only assume that somewhere worlds have started to collide in Google maps. I don't know why...some talk about duplicate listings, scrapings, mergings, suppressions, conflating listings...the bottom line is this is a "free" service offered by Google. I could offer the old adage "it is worth what you paid for it"...but really if your listing is wrong through no fault of your own how much is this costing your business?
My advice to every business owner is to check your listing. Take the time to review and learn about Google's Local Business Center. Here is a "How To" Google YouTube video "Local Business Center for Google Maps".
I hope Joel H Google Employee reappears in these forums and that Google can solve the "implosion" mystery. Let's remember these listings are the lifelines for many businesses, this is not a game of "Where's Waldo".
Create your own Unique Ringtone with Audiko, using their cut and share technology. Not only can you make ringtones from your own music, but you can extract music directly from YouTube videos. If you are like me and you think that paying to make a ringtone from a song you have already paid for through iTunes is not that great, then Audiko.net is your solution! Audiko has very simple user-friendly instructions for creating your own ringtones. Audiko will create your ringtone in the iPhone accepted format; all you need to do is drag the file into the Ringtones folder of iTunes and upload it to your iPhone.
What's Next? The Current Financial Crisis, The Ultimate Reboot & Homo Evolutis.
The Current Financial Crisis? Stop Evolving, Stop Growing. The Ultimate reboot is at hand.
I would argue that we are already living in the time of the ultimate reboot and Homo Evolutus. You can see those people all around you. Notice the kinds of tech that you or your friends are now using, Facebook, iPhones, and bluetooth headsets. Some people are evolving right before our very eyes.
This same evolution is going on with the information that we use, as it is moving to the cloud where our devices are just the access points to this info.
The sweet spot is the chatty innovator who is using your product or service and talking about it on the internets. These people are aware of what is going on because they are learning on the fly how to digest this deluge of information.
Does your site have a, blog, an RSS feed, video, an audio podcast? If it does great! You are feeding these innovators the information they want in a way they find usable, if not you are still living in a Web 1.0 world.
Web 2.0 is a phrase that we see bantered around all the time. To me a Web 2.0 website gives me the tools to Follow, and Interact with, the information that is being produced by the site, Either from the site owners themselves ( Like this blog ) or via user generated content, think Digg or Youtube.
Watch this scary and at the same time inspiring Ted Talk, that will point out the fires we are dancing thru today, and new ideas that are forming the basis of our tomorrows.
25 years ago today my funny valentine, our perpetual valentine, was born. It was February 14, 1984, when our youngest son, Daniel Ryan Helfand, came into this world at about 8:00PM in the Providence Hospital, Anchorage, Alaska. It is hard to believe that 25 years have passed since that cold, freezing cold (about 6 degrees), winter night. Dennis arrived home from the office around five and found me resting in the bedroom. He inquired if I felt OK to which I responded: "Well, I am OK, just uncomfortable." By 6:00PM we were driving on icy roads hurrying to get to the hospital. Dan arrived so quickly that it was really Dennis and the charge nurse, Char Peters, who delivered Daniel. No anesthetic and that is why I said Dan arrived about 8:00PM, the truth is everyone in the delivery room was so busy that we forgot to look at the clock!
That evening Dennis and I knew that Valentine's Day would always be special to us. We would really never need to buy another card or Valentine's gift as we had our perpetual Valentine. To remember this night, Dennis wrote a song for Daniel. You can enjoy "Daniel's Valentine" here.
This sweet little boy, is now a man that loves books, music, history, whitewater rafting, rock climbing, harmonica playing, photography, Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Twain, Emerson, Thoreau, philosophy, dogs, and good food. He was named for my uncle Daniel and my father's mother's maiden name Ryan. Daniel is a Hebrew name meaning "God is my judge" and Ryan, of Gaelic origin, means "king" or "little prince". I need not say more.
The video I am sharing with you today is Pete Seeger singing Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" at a celebration for Pete Seeger's 90th Birthday on May 3, 2009.
So today, as I wish Daniel a happy 25th birthday, I want to wish all of you a Happy Valentine's Day. If you attempt to learn about the history of this day, you will find that everyone seems to have their own version of how and why we have come to celebrate Valentine's Day. I will let you do this research on your own. What I have come to realize in the past week is that I have many friends and relatives that have a February birthday. It is an extraordinary number. Let me see: our son Daniel(14th), Dennis' sister Vivian(19th) and brother Harvey(19th), Dennis' cousin Bob Stuckelman(19th), Dennis' cousin Joe Stuckelman(16th), Dennis' nephew Joshua Yates(14th), Dennis' nephew Jared Rubin(27th), our friend Arnold Glassman(16th), our friend Father Rick Degagne(11th), our friend Sheryl Thompson(14th), our friend Bart von Gal(21st), my cousin Harry Egan(14th), my sister Agnes Laband(13th), my nephew Steve Laband(5th) and the list goes on. Just this week as we celebrated Father Rick's birthday we both commented about all the February birthdays, so Father Rick counted back and we concluded that it must be the lusty month of May that produces all of these wonderful February babies. Come to think about it, May is the month we celebrate Mother's Day...so now we may conclude what really goes on in many homes on Mother's Day.
Happy Birthday Dan!
Have you seen He's Just Not That Into You? This film opened yesterday and since today is Saturday I thought I would provide a little preview of this romantic comedy. Technically speaking, He's Just Not That Into You, was not on my to-do list for February 6th, so I have not yet seen the movie, but I have seen the previews. I think this is one of those films that I might be able to convince my husband, Dennis, to see. Why? Eye candy! There are enough "big" stars, both men and women, in this film to keep everyone happy for 129 minutes. For your convenience, I have included a trailer for the movie in this post. You will see that the producers feel that the basic interactive groundrules for men and women are established when we are very young children, which is "he says one thing, but means another" and "she hears what she wants to hear". As an aside, I remember my first little boy "friend". In 1954-55 we walked to kindergarten each morning holding hands. His name was Raymond Wood. I think he was always nice to me!
Ok, here is the scoop: He's Just Not That Into You is based on a self-help book that was written by Greg Behrentdt and Liz Tuccillo. No, neither Greg nor Liz is a psychologist. Both were writers for Sex and the City, they based this book on a famous line from the 6th season episode called "Pick-a-little, Talk-a-little" which originally aired July 13, 2003(yes, the episode title is the name of an annoying song from The Music Man). Six years later and with a reported budget of $25,000,000 we now have a romantic comedy that will either make you laugh or help you escape today's crazy technical world for two hours.
Probably the most poignant message in He's Just Not That Into You is this: In today's world, unlike when I was wondering "why doesn't HE call?", a person can't just expect to hear from someone via a landline phone, they need to worry about every known "SOCIAL NETWORK": myspace, facebook, youtube, plurk, plugoo, brightkite, ping, twitter, yammer, and the fatal text messaging via the cell phone. As Mary, played by Drew Barrymore, says: "It's exhausting!"
The fact is love, or what we hope will turn into love, makes us do foolish things. We are all guilty of this, we are human. In 1965 Martha (Reeves) and the Vandellas released "Love Makes Me Do Foolish Things", it never made it to #1, but many of us loved this song, because in 1965 and for a long time after that, our social networks consisted only of a phone and the Friday night mixer (dance). This song made us cry and if we were really lucky that special someone would ask us to dance and we would forget all our troubles. Escape!
So for this Saturday: Dance to this music,take a break and go away with your friend. Go to the movies or rent a movie,love the one you're with, and let me know how this works out for you, write a comment on my blog post.
P.S. For the record, if you are wondering what happened to little Raymond Wood. We continued through grade school together as friends. After that we lost touch. In 2006, my mother passed away. As I stood outside the church waiting for her funeral to begin, I looked across the crowd and there stood Raymond. He walked over to me, put his arms around me and said "I wouldn't miss being with you today." Precious memories, indeed!
Forty years ago this month I entered the real work force. A real job with Wells Fargo Bank. I was all of 19, recently married and had dropped out of the University of San Francisco. This real job had the same grade and pay of a teller, but the Human Resource Officer who interviewed me thought I might be better suited to a desk job with limited "face to face" contact with the public! I was paid $370 per month. (Let me save you some time, that computes to $2.13 per hour.) I was assigned to the Monthly Payment Loan Center as a Payoff Clerk and my desk was located on the 3rd floor of the Wells Fargo Bank World Headquarter's building at 44 Montgomery, San Francisco, Ca. The building was new, completed in 1966 and it was the tallest building in San Francisco between 1966 and 1968. While my blog today is somewhat personal regarding my resume, I want to dedicate it to Lilly Ledbetter. We should all thank Lilly Ledbetter for her relentless pursuit of justice which resulted in the eventual passing and signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. It has been a long 40 years!
If you are not familiar with Lilly's case against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, then I invite you to read about it. After the Equal Pay Act of 1963 was passed most Americans probably felt protected by the law, but for women in the work place there has been an undercurrent sometimes barely noticeable, nevertheless palpable. Let me explain how this phenomena works. When you are hired by a large company, a well established company (Wells Fargo was founded in 1852), there is a presumption of trust. After all this is a bank and we all know that the basis of banking is that of a fiduciary. So is a 19 year old woman suppose to see red flags when in the interview process she is asked what kind of birth control measures do you use? Should the 19 year woman question why as an employee of the company she has no maternity insurance coverage, but the wives of male employees do? Should the 19 year old woman question her manager (a man) when he reminds all employees that they will be subject to termination if they meet with union leaders?
By 1972 I did start to ask questions, but I didn't have the time or money to fight for the cause...so I resigned from Wells Fargo and returned to college full time. By 1974 I received my B.A. in Social Work and went back into the work force, only to find myself once again in the banking industry. In 1978 I was hired by Crocker National Bank and by early 1979 (at the age of 29) I was an Assistant Vice President of Consumer Loan Administration. I worked in the Crocker Bank Tower located at 611 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. By this time, no one questioned my birth control measures (except my immediate Vice-President when he promoted me to AVP and then said with a chuckle: "Now, don't get pregnant!"), women employees now had maternity coverage, and unions just never came up in conversations.
In late 1980, I gave birth to my first son, Aaron. I resigned from Crocker Bank in the Spring of 1981 and it was purchased by Wells Fargo in 1986. I did not return to the banking industry until October 1985. By then I was 36 years old and we had just relocated to Conway, New Hampshire, with our two young children. Dennis and I met with a Commercial Loan Officer of Indian Head Bank North to discuss purchasing a country inn. After reviewing our business plan and resume, the gentleman looked at me and said: "Can we set this loan application aside and talk about hiring you?" He had me! After all, we were new in this community and if one of the most prestigious banks in the state was willing to offer me a job as a loan officer, two blocks from our home with medical benefits for the whole family then why not accept it?
I worked for Indian Head Bank North, was promoted to Vice President, and continued there even after we purchased Cranmore Mountain Lodge in 1986. But in 1988 Indian Head Bank was purchased by Fleet Bank and by 1989 most of the senior officers had been offered a severance package. I resigned my position in November 1989. Fleet Bank was purchased by Bank of America in 2003.
What you need to understand is that I always suspected that I did not receive equal pay for equal work in the banking industry. And now you are probably wondering why didn't I pursue it. The answer is complex: First, most companies use what are referred to as pay grades. According to Wikipedia a "Pay grade is a unit in systems of monetary compensation for employment. It is commonly used in public service, both civil and military, but also for companies of the private sector. Pay grades facilitate the employment process by providing a fixed framework of salary ranges, as opposed to a free negotiation. Typically, pay grades encompass two dimensions: a "vertical" range where each level corresponds to the responsibility of, and requirements needed for a certain position; and a "horizontal" range within this scale to allow for monetary incentives rewarding the employee's quality of performance or length of service."; Secondly, in most large companies you are subject to termination if you discuss your compensation level with other employees. So there you have it in a nut shell, put the woman in a pay grade that is the same as the men performing the same job, but start her in the bottom of the pay range and then make it clear that if she discusses her compensation she will be fired; Third, if you really want to keep her in tow, then give her a title, like Vice-President. It is all about TRUST!
Tonight I had the opportunity to read about Lilly Ledbetter's suit. As I read through the history of the case, I finally came to the Supreme Court's ruling against Lilly. Again, according to Wikipedia: "Justice Alito delivered the opinion of the court. The Court held that according to Title VII, discriminatory intent must occur during the 180-day charging period. Ledbetter did not claim that Goodyear acted with discriminatory intent in the charging period by issuing the checks, nor by denying her a raise in 1998. She argued that the discriminatory behavior occurred long before but still affected her during the 180-day charging period. Prior case law, the Court held, established that the actual intentional discrimination must occur within the charging period. The Court also stated that according to those prior cases, Ledbetter’s claim that each check is an act of discrimination is inconsistent with the statute, because there was no evidence of discriminatory intent in the issuing of the checks." So basically, they ruled against Lilly because she did not file her complaint within the 180-day charging period.
As I read this decision I immediately thought of the standard operating procedure for most companies, you are subject to termination if you discuss your compensation level with other employees. That being the case how could one ever hope to meet the requirement to file a complaint within the 180-day charging period?
It took the only woman on the Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, to point out the idiocy of this ruling by presenting the dissenting argument. Quoting from Wikipedia: "Justice Ginsburg dissented from the opinion of the Court, joined by Justices Stevens, Souter, and Breyer. She argued against applying the 180-day limit to pay discrimination, because discrimination often occurs in small increments over large periods of time. Furthermore, the pay information of fellow workers is typically confidential and unavailable for comparison. Ginsburg argued that pay discrimination is inherently different from adverse actions, such as termination. Adverse actions are obvious, but small pay discrepancy is often difficult to recognize until more than 180 days of the pay change. Ginsburg argued that the broad remedial purpose of the statute was incompatible with the Court's "cramped" interpretation. Her dissent asserted that the employer had been, "Knowingly carrying past pay discrimination forward" during the 180-day charging period, and therefore could be held liable."
So here's to Lilly. She fought the fight and she won the battle (not necessarily the war). On January 29, 2009, President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (With the revised statutory language, the majority opinion's interpretation referenced above is no longer valid, and the law now conforms to the interpretation advocated by Justice Ginsberg in her dissenting opinion). Lilly will never be financially compensated by Goodyear or any government agency. She led a fight for all of us and for that we should be thankful.
P.S. Today's image is a collage of some of my business cards from over the years. What a hoot...great titles, with almost always unequal pay! And for the record, over the years I fought many battles with my employers over equal treatment. In 1989, I refused to sign my severance package under threat of non-payment. The reason? It contained a clause that I was not allowed to discuss the terms of the agreement with fellow employees. I wonder why? Could it be that the packages were not equal? I knew they were not, I didn't sign, but they paid me my severance. To think how the battles might have been waged differenly with the Internet, YouTube, Facebook, Blogs, Twitter...dare to imagine!
Social Media has gone mainstream and one needs to look no further than Youtube, or Twitter to see that. With a budding new war in the middle east Israel has taken to these social media sites not just to get their message out but to also to take part in the conversation. The democratization of information is in full swing folks, if you are waiting for someone else to get your message out, WHO ARE YOU WAITING FOR? With tools like Blogger, Youtube and Twitter anyone can easily take part in the conversation.
In 2009 don't be shy, click the comment button, take part in the conversation, you will be glad you did.
Webconsuls' SMO team works hard to keep our clients and us up to date on all of the latest "gadgets" that seem to offer some benefit either for our website marketing or general business tools. I will admit that I am not always the first one to try out or sign up for the latest and greatest, but I do try to glean from my co-workers their reviews of these new tools. So today I want to talk about Yammer. To Yammer or not to Yammer, that is the question.
I first learned about Yammer on November 5, 2008. I received an email from Lisa McClure inviting me to join the Webconsuls.com network. This email arrived at 7:53AM, then at 8:56AM I received an additional invitation from Malik Moosa. On November 5 I had a very good reason for not responding to these invitations, as I was flying from Tucson to Albany, NY, and the laptop was not accessible for most of the day. Five weeks went by. I was busy with many client's projects and I waited to see if any other team member would invite me to join webconsuls.com yammer network.
December 8, 2008, the wait was over. I received another invitation from Dick Fay. Now this impressed me. Dick is not only my co-worker he is also one of my business partners, and I decided that Dick's invitation offered some validity to yammer.com. So, I signed up!
It was easy to do, I followed the steps and what do you know there I was part of the TEAM. On the home page you can easily see "posts" or "updates" from your team or group members. But what startled me was that, aside from the automatic post showing that Dick Fay had joined the "network", all other updates were from Darin McClure, our SMO director. Hmmmm! What does this mean? Where were Lisa's updates and Malik's update? I didn't understand.
If, as the Yammer.com "about us" page says: "Yammer is a tool for making companies and organizations more productive through the exchange of short frequent answers to one simple question: 'What are you working on?' As employees answer that question, a feed is created in one central location enabling co-workers to discuss ideas, post news, ask questions, and share links and other information. Yammer also serves as a company directory in which every employee has a profile and as a knowledge base where past conversations can be easily accessed and referenced."; then why is only Darin posting updates? And for that matter, is anyone listening?
I am reminded of a winter day in 1989, when I was the co-owner and innkeeper of Cranmore Mountain Lodge. Our chef at the time was a colorful fellow named John Littlefield. (Picture Ignatius J. Reilly, the main character in the Pulitzer Prize winning fiction novel, A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole.) John was a superb chef, but let's just say he had some idiosyncrasies and someday when I write my expose about innkeeping I will devote an entire chapter to John.
But back to my story. I was in the laundry room with my youngest son Daniel
(he had just turned five years old). The laundry room had a doorway to the country kitchen and John was in the kitchen busying himself and talking. Daniel watched John for a few minutes and then turned to me and in a soft voice inquired: "Momma, who is John talking to?" To which I responded: "He is talking to himself." Daniel considered my answer and then in turn responded: "But who is listening?" I didn't have an answer, except a knowing smile.
Now almost 20 years later, I find myself asking the same question when it comes to all of the new-age technology. I know that people read blogs, I know that the Internet and SMO can be very powerful on so many levels. But I also know that I can write this blog every Saturday and I don't really have any idea who is listening. So should I Yammer?
I would like to invite all of my readers to learn more about yammer.com, but at the same time I worry about even the name of "yammer." According to Websters', yammer means to utter repeated cries of distress or sorrow, to utter consistent complaints, to talk persistently or volubly and often loudly. So why would Yammer.com founders choose such a name? I don't know.
What I do know is that I am going to give it a try, but I am going to use it strictly for business questions. I am going to try to solicit input from my team members about business questions regarding SEO, SMO, web design, etc. I will let you know how this works out. In the meantime, here is a video that gives you a pretty good overview of YAMMER. And if you are looking for a good read, try A Confederacy of Dunces, you will laugh yourself silly.
Earlier this month, you might remember, I visited Amherst, MA, for homecoming weekend at Amherst College. During that weekend Dennis and I took a side trip to Hampshire College to visit the National Yiddish Book Center. How and why we came to make this side trip is a story for another day, but suffice it to say we were awe struck as we parked our car and strolled into this incredible center. We were welcomed into the center and invited to watch a short video on the history of the National Yiddish Book Center. The words of the narrator were both comforting and chilling: "Throughout their long history, Jews have turned to books as a 'portable homeland', the repository of collective memory and culture." What struck me about this statement is while it is true for Jews, I think it is also true for most people. That is, our books ground us as we move from place to place, from home to home. Looking back on my adult life, I have always treasured my books and I have never felt quite settled in a new home (whether it be a college dorm, a new apartment or a spacious house) until the books are gently set in a place of honor. It is not that I keep re-reading these books, but the fact that they are present in my home makes me feel settled.
My books are a conglomeration of novels, history, memoirs, poetry...many were gifts from friends and family or simply passed to me from my parents over the years. I have packed these books so many times over my adult life, at least 16 times, that each time it has become a ritual to hold the books, dust them and then quietly set them on a shelf..."just in case". They represent a part of my life's history. What I particularly love to do is read the personal inscriptions that many of them hold, written by people that have touched my life.
A few months ago I was riding in a car with Darin and Lisa McClure and Lisa reached into her purse and retrieved a new "gadget." I asked her about it and she cheerfully extolled the virtues of her Kindle, Amazon's wireless reading device. According to Amazon this is "a convenient, portable reading device with the ability to wirelessly download books, blogs, magazines, and newspapers." I could see that the device was all of those things, but what about the book? In other words, what about the essence of the book itself: Buying the book, reading the book, holding the book, referring back to the book, sharing the book, and giving it a place of honor on your book shelf? What about the "dust cover(s)"? Here is how this new "reading" works. First you buy the Kindle for about $360. Then there is the download purchase vs the traditional purchase. For example, in 2005 Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. If you purchase the hardcover version of this book it will run about $35, the softcover version is about $21 and the Amazon Kindle version is $9.99. You can learn more about the Kindle by watching this YouTube video.
I invite you to visit on-line The National Yiddish Book Center. You can enjoy their video "A Bridge of Books: The Story of the National Yiddish Book Center." As you view this video, you might wonder about the meaning of the word "save".
According to Merriam-Webster's On-Line Dictionary, the intransitive verb "save" has the following meanings: "1 a: to deliver from sin b: to rescue or deliver from danger or harm c: to preserve or guard from injury, destruction, or loss d: to store (data) in a computer or on a storage device (as a floppy disk or CD)." Now ponder a Kindle vs the National Yiddish Book Center. A Kindle depicts definition "d", while projects like National Yiddish Book Center honors definitions "b" and "c".
Going back to the "portable homeland" and "just in case"...a few months ago my youngest son asked me if I had ever read The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. Imagine my delight when I was able to walk to our bookshelves and retrieve my copy of this book. It had been a gift (1968 price for this hardbound book was $3.95) to me 40 years ago and still I could find it, touch it and present my copy of Gibran's masterpiece to my son to touch, read and enjoy. Simply amazing, dust cover included!
The Oxbow World Longboard Tour came to town last week, And Webconsuls was there to cover the show. Surf legends and 44 of the worlds top longboard surfers were treated to hot and glassy surf for the entire contest. This year the event was located on the historic Surf Beach at San Onofre, the heart of Aloha on the US mainland. The winner, Bonga Perkins, was kind enough to sit down and answer all of the tough questions for our littlest interviewer. For more from the Oxbow World Tour 2008 San Onofre Championships please visit, LBChampionship.com. Video By Ella G. McClure, Questions By Ella G. McClure
For help with getting your live event on the internet,
Via Blogs, Youtube, Twitter, and other social media venues please contact us here at Webconsuls.
I may be stating the obvious here, but I don't think so. YouTube is not just a video sharing website as described in Wikipedia. YouTube is a video search engine built with Web 2.0 social functions.
YouTube has a search function and YouTube is being searched by people to find entertainment as well as information. How you title, tag and list your video helps you place for different search terms. YouTube's Web 2.0 functions make it natural and easy to share your video with your social sites and the star rating encourages quick feedback from viewers.
As a searcher I have actually started to go directly to YouTube to find information. I have found this very helpful in the "how to" department. A query for just "how to" on YouTube returns millions of results. The number and variety of "how to's" will amaze you. I especially like the list of related videos offered up with each result allowing me to browse related topics I may not have thought to search on.
Just looking at the search numbers at YouTube will convince you of the wide variety of viewers turning to YouTube as people once turned solely to web search. If you haven't tried YouTube as a search engine I would highly recommend bookmarking this one or entering it as the home page for one of your internet browsers so it is ready to go when you are ready to search.
YouTube is definitely where the conversation is taking place. If you weren't around for the CNN-YouTube Presidential Debates take a look at this Wikipedia article on how YouTube was used to collect questions for the candidates in the CNN televised debates.
Take a look at YouTube for "how to's" related to your niche or specialty. Are there places to become part of the conversation. Do you have a "how to" to add or comment on?
Music is a universal language, it has no boundaries - no limits. When we find ourself in trouble or heartache the only thing that can make us happy is music. I live for music and my music lives through me, it is how I communicate with myself and others.
In the past the only way people could experience their music is with their ears, the only bands with music videos were big and commercialized. Digital Video Cameras and YouTube have allowed musicians to share their music across the spectrum. Everyone with a computer or an IPhone have the ability to watch and listen to your art. Flip cameras are a dream come true when it comes to sharing the experience of music. You can record a video and instantly upload it from your camera to a computer and spread it across the universe via YouTube and Google Video. The band that I am in has taken full advantage of Flip Cameras to help us share our music with the world. The image quality, as well as sound, is amazing!
Anybody who has a message, musical or not, has the ability to share it now. Flip cameras help musicians as well as businesses spread their word online like never before. Here are a couple examples of Flip videos:
You can write great text for your website and the search engines will crawl your site. Hopefully the search engines will like your text, consider it new and unique, but the bottom line is when the human being clicks on your site they usually look at the photos or videos first. Why is this? To my way of thinking it is human nature. We are looking for a connection and our brains focus first on photos and videos. It is a quicker connection. Viewing a photo about a product or service is sometimes easier than taking the time to read. The photo to the left was taken on 9/5/08 at 7:00AM. By 10:00AM the flower had closed, never to reopen again. I could write an essay about this cactus, but the image tells you all you need to know. One moment in time!
Let's face it, we use photos and videos throughout our daily life. When tragedy strikes some of the first items that people will try to save are their photos and videos. The photos and videos help to validate one's heritage and existence. This phenomenon might explain why those of us who grew up being filmed by our parents using a Bell & Howell 8mm now spend an excessive amount of time and money to have these old films converted to DVDs. And so it is when you use photos and videos on your website. The site and the services/products become tangible.
For almost ten years Webconsuls has worked with their clients to provide original photos that can tell the story. Furthermore, we sometimes were given videos or slide shows to work with; however, this medium was in its infancy stage on the internet. Enter Google videos and YouTube.
In a recent article from Site Pro News, Randy Zlobec states, "On YouTube alone (which accounts for more than ninety-eight percent of the videos viewed via Google), more than eighty-two million people watched over four billion videos last year. That makes YouTube both the top video sharing site and the top video search engine. YouTube receives as much as thirteen hours of new user-submitted video every minute, and more than fifty percent of the people watching videos online share links with other people. So, getting a good YouTube ranking could be an important way to bring people to your site."
If you are interested in having Webconsuls create a video for your site, remember this can be accomplished by using still photos. We invite you to look at two samples: Saco River Canoe & Kayak's Fall Color on the Saco River (this video also provides closed captions) or Cottonwood de Tucson's Equine Therapy for Addiction Recovery (this video includes original music specifically written for the video).
Check back next week for a short discussion on editing!
The Internet today offers several avenues for exposure beyond traditional Search Engine Optimization. Working in concert with a firm that has expertise in these avenues can increase visibility, search engine rankings, and business. These avenues are often considered part of Social Marketing.
One is to use the Internet to publish articles. You write the article and your web development company publishes it on a myriad of Internet sites. Well written and interesting articles can not only get wide circulation, but enhance your reputation as well.
A second way is to use blogs. The web development company would set up the blog and you regularly add content. Done correctly, the blog pages that you add would get wide and fast circulation.
You might consider adding video content to your site. Relatively inexpensive equipment is available to take acceptable videos. You may already have suitable equipment. Well done videos are interesting content which can be publicized them on the Internet. There is also much less competition for videos. For one client's main keyword there were over 750,000 pages indexed by Google, and less that 175 videos.
Webconsuls, LLC We are a web site development company with expertise and experience in designing and building web sites, in Search Engine Optimization, and in Social Marketing.
There is a world out there, more of a world. With the push of a button, a million possibilities await you; this Utopia is smaller than a note card, and lives inside your pocket. The new IPhone is the cutting edge of technology, the Alpha y Omega; there are many instruments that try to compete and at the surface appear to be similar, but with a little investigation you find something quite unique.
Your music, photos, and email accessible with a touch-screen, is only the tip of the iceberg; real time GPS and any kind of application you could think of, with more to come. The question is not what your IPhone can do? Rather, what can your IPhone not do? Having the ability to manage your social media real time makes social media more universal. Millions of web sites have and are making their pages IPhone friendly; companies have become aware of the implications and the potential of this virtual treasure chest. Wake up on time, plan your day, work from anywhere, and do all of this while listening to your favorite tunes! On a daily basis I find something new and exciting regarding the capabilities of this hand held computer. I am experiencing the joy of this product, like no other gadget I have ever had; at times the excitement can be too much to handle.
I can still remember: my first desktop, my first laptop, my first Discman, and my first IPod. The desktops were bulky and slow and were inefficient; speed got better, but what about size? Laptops made up for the size problem, and for a time satisfied your needs; but you could never fit your laptop into a pocket. Discmans made sound mobile, but they skipped and you had to carry all your cds with you wherever you went. IPods held all the music you wanted and could fit into a pocket, but in a pocket already containing: car keys, cell phones, palm pilots, and whatever else one carries with them daily. Was all the clutter convenient?
It seems like so long ago that I started this technological ride into the future. I felt like I was on the brink of something amazing taking place; with every year that passed, the horizon became closer. The anticipation of a new gadget that would make my computer more universal, faster, and a little better was what I dreamed about. The release of the IPod was the pinnacle of technology when it came to media; first with music and recording, and then with video. I was satisfied beyond belief with IPod, and wondered where Apple could go next with this device? A phone? An IPhone?
With the advent of the IPhone it became very clear that the sky was the limit. You could now manage your whole life with this masterpiece; from organizing your media, all the way to managing your business, work and play had truly become One. Isnt that what life is about? The freedom to accomplish your needs from wherever you exist at any given moment; especially in this fast paced world, a world where every second counts, when he who arrives first gets the prize. The plot has been set, the characters are in their right places; I welcome you to the climax, enjoy!
A while back, I read a very interesting book that compared life to a train ride or a series of train rides.
Life is like a train ride it read. We get on, we ride, we get off. We get back on and ride some more. There are accidents and there are delays. At certain stops there are surprises. Some of these will translate into great moments of joy, some will result in profound sorrow.
When we are born we first board the train, we meet people whom we think will be with us for the entire journey. Those people are our parents.
Sadly this is far from the truth, Our parents are with us for as long as we absolutely need them. They too have journeys they must complete . We live on with the memories of their love, affection, friendship, guidance and their ever presence.
There are others who board the train who eventually become very important to us in turn. Those people are our brothers, sisters, friends and acquaintances whom we will learn to love and cherish.
Some people consider their journey like a jaunty tour. They will just go merrily along. Others will encounter many upsets, tears, losses on their journey. Others still, will linger on to offer a helping hand to anyone in need.
Some people on the train will leave an everlasting impression when they get off. Some will get on and get off the train so quickly, they will scarcely leave a sign that they ever traveled along with you or ever crossed your path...
We will sometimes be upset that some passengers whom we love, will choose to sit in another compartment and leave us to travel on our own. Then again, there is nothing that says we cant seek them out anyway. Nevertheless, once sought out and found, we may not even be able to sit next to them because that seat will already be taken.
That's okay everyone's journey will be filled with hopes, dreams, challenges, setbacks and goodbyes.
We must strive to make the best of it no matter what...
We must constantly strive to understand out travel companions and look for the best in everyone.
Remember that at any moment during our journey, any one of our travel companions can have a weak moment and be in need of our help.
We too may vacillate, or hesitate every trip hopefully we can count on someone being there to be supportive and understanding.
The bigger mystery of our journey is that we don't know when our last stop will come. Neither do we know when our travel companions will make their last stop Not even those sitting in the seat next to us.
I know I will be sad to make my final stop. My separation from all those friends and acquaintances I made during the train ride will be painful. Leaving all those I am close to will be a sad thing. But then again, I am certain that one day I will get to the main station only to meet up with everyone else. They will all be carrying baggage…most of which they did not have when the first got on the train.
I will be glad to see them again, I will also be glad to have contributed to their baggage... and to have enriched their lives, just as much as they will have contributed to my baggage and enriched my life.
We are all on this train ride together. Above all, we should all try to strive to make the ride as pleasant and memorable as we can right up until we can make the final stop and the leave the train for the last time...
Surfwise Sneak Preview Tonight, May 7th on HD.net, at 6 PM PT, with an encore at 9 PM PT.
Surfwise follows the odyssey of 85-year-old, legendary surfer Dr. Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz, his wife Juliette, and their nine children - all of whom were home-schooled on the beaches of Southern California, Hawaii, Mexico and Israel; they surfed every day of their lives, and were forced to adhere to a strict diet and lifestyle of animals in the wild, by their passionate and demanding, health-conscious father.
Set to "I have a fast connection. Always play higher-quality video when it's available."
And click save.
Above is a short video we put together for Saco River Canoe & Kayak Adventures trips in New Hampshire & Maine's White Mountains, notice how much better the higher quality version looks?
Dallas Taylor the drummer for Crosby Stills Nash & Young was kind enough to have Webconsuls come visit and take some video with our new "Flip" video camera. 6 min, 1 take, Dallas is a true professional.
Whether your YouTube video has 10 views or 10,000,000, people always want to know the same thing: who's watching this? Where do viewers come from? How did they find my video?
Finally, Youtube has some answers. Today there are releasing YouTube Insight, a free tool that enables anyone with a YouTube account to view detailed statistics about the videos that they have uploaded. For example, uploaders can see how often their videos are viewed in different geographic regions, as well as how popular they are relative to all videos in that market over a given period of time. You can also delve deeper into the lifecycle of your videos, like how long it takes for a video to become popular, and what happens to video views as popularity peaks.
How does this help you? Well, using these metrics, you can increase your videos' view counts and improve your popularity on the site. For instance, you might learn that your videos are most popular on Wednesdays, that you have a huge following in Spain, or that new videos that play off previous content become more popular more quickly. With this information, you can concentrate on creating compelling new content that appeals to your target audiences, and post these videos on days you know these viewers are on the site. (Maybe even post your next video in Spanish?) And for those of you who are also partners, the more popular a video is, the more advertising revenue it can generate.
Youtube will be making new features and additional information available fairly quickly -- like a specific breakdown of how viewers discovered the video -- so keep an eye out as they roll out new features. As for now, you can find currently available metrics by clicking under the "About this Video" button under "My account > Videos, Favorites, Playlists > Manage my Videos." The YouTube Team
For all you visual learners who want to add features to your blog, but don't have the patience to browse bloggers help articles, we've created the new Blogger Help YouTube Channel. There you can find videos that show you step by step how to use Blogger features.
There are only a few videos at the moment, and we've decided to start with the basics:
In the coming months they will be adding more videos. If you have a suggestion for a video you'd like to see, let them know by posting in the Help Group. In addition, you can give feedback on each video's comment form. They are always trying to find new and better ways to help us use Blogger and they appreciate our feedback - thanks!
From 1986 - 1997, my wife Judy and I, along with our two sons Aaron and Daniel, owned and operated a New Hampshire bed and breakfast inn, Cranmore Mountain Lodge, in the White Mountains. During the evenings, I would often play piano and over time, these "mini-concerts" became a regular inn "feature." If I were not at the piano after dinner, the lobby Innkeeper buzzer would usually be pressed by 8 PM and I knew exactly what that meant.
The guests seemed to prefer the music of Broadway, the big shows, like Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Man of La Mancha, Cats, Fiddler on the Roof and others. Scores from popular films or background music such as Love Story, Unchained Melody, the Godfather (Speak Softly Love) and romantic ballads were always requested. Eventually I recorded a tape cassette and when CDs were introduced, I recorded and offered CD s for sale as well.
The setting was a beautiful common room with fireplace and this wonderful baby grand piano. Over the years, this room became the favorite of our inn guests, typically folks who enjoyed experiencing New England at a traditional and historic bed and breakfast. It was a wonderful time, with guests singing, humming or simply relaxing in easy chairs and rockers, as the treasures of Broadway and film were being played for them. Occasionally, a guest would ask me to accompany them and they would perform. On rare occasion, the vocal range and star quality were magnificent. Unfortunately, more often than not, some soloist requests, (and the thumbs-down performance that followed ), occasioned fear of "early guest checkouts" in me. Fortunately, inn guests tend to be rather "forgiving" and just seem to giggle a lot. At Cranmore Mt. Lodge, music was part of the inn's character. The common room made the travel experiences memorable for the guests.
The style and interpretation of the music was mine and "the common room" became my stage. I was its star soloist and performer. Why, come to think of it, I even owned the theatre. For the guests, sharing stories and experiences of their day, (with my music providing the background to give those tales "color and drama"), added something intangible to their trip. The inn became theirs. They were comfortable. They knew they were coming back. When the day of checkout arrived and they would say their goodbyes, they usually had a CD packed for themselves and a few others as gifts. The White Mountains National Forest area will always be known for its beauty, its foliage, and spectacular vistas. Tourism will always be its major industry. We were able to add another dimension to their trip. I hope you will enjoy this YouTube video of my recording of "Memory". Here are some of my favorite memories of New Hampshire. Daniel, my youngest son, created this video for me.
I have long since sold the inn and with it, my wonderful baby grand. I miss that piano, the feel of the keys, the shiny black finish. I think back (ten years already) to those times at the keyboard, with my captive audience in attendance. All those people and yet, in a strange way, always feeling alone. I had found my place and life was truly wonderful. I have never had a piano lesson. I am self-taught. My CD, Dennis Inn Concert, the Sounds of Cranmore Mt. Lodge has never gone Silver, Gold or Platinum. It ain't going to get any special recognition either or referenced on the Juilliard School web site. Yet, "somewhere out there" that CD is playing.
I am older now and many miles distant. It is nighttime in Newport Beach CA and as I sit in my home, I close my eyes and see the common room, the fireplace, the couples, the families. The piano is still shiny black and my fingers can feel the wonderful smoothness of the ivory. I am still their Innkeeper and they will be my special guests forever. The "Memory" feels good. Yes, the sounds of that time are alive and well... both for my inn guests ....and for me.
I hope you enjoy my CD Podcast, created by my friend and business associate Darin McClure of San Clemente California
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