I have an idea, but it requires your help and contribution for it to become a reality.
As I have been building my networking base for On The Vine, I've met so many cool cats with an awesome skill set within their respective niche of the creative field. It is those said niches that are the basis of my idea -- the formation of a creative collective.
Showing posts with label Networking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Networking. Show all posts
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Celebrating the 1st Amendment Right to Freely Rant... er, I mean, Freedom of Speech
Happy fireworks day, On The Vine readers! Hope that you enjoy all the oohs-n-aahs (pretty lights and resounding boom-booms) of this most monumentus day in the history of our country.
This post is a recap of and expansion upon a conversation had while road-tripping for this holiday weekend. One of the topics that got my blood pumping was the lack of etiquette of written communication via the internet, specifically via social media outlets. Some are the results of the etiquette that is still evolving around social media, others are just the omissions of well-defined/established etiquette because it's being used in a new medium. Still others, are just the virtual manifestation of some people's strange and off-putting communication idiosyncrasies; their general lack of people skills that now weird you out online as well as in-person.
To (possibly) help along the continued evolution of said etiquette and shed light on/create awareness for the poor uses and neglect of it, -- hence, restoring a shred of my sanity from the many irritations of poor communication habits -- I present you with this post on social media pet-peeves, in no particular order (for now). Enjoy... or feel free to skip if you're up to your eyeballs in people ranting already:)
This post is a recap of and expansion upon a conversation had while road-tripping for this holiday weekend. One of the topics that got my blood pumping was the lack of etiquette of written communication via the internet, specifically via social media outlets. Some are the results of the etiquette that is still evolving around social media, others are just the omissions of well-defined/established etiquette because it's being used in a new medium. Still others, are just the virtual manifestation of some people's strange and off-putting communication idiosyncrasies; their general lack of people skills that now weird you out online as well as in-person.
To (possibly) help along the continued evolution of said etiquette and shed light on/create awareness for the poor uses and neglect of it, -- hence, restoring a shred of my sanity from the many irritations of poor communication habits -- I present you with this post on social media pet-peeves, in no particular order (for now). Enjoy... or feel free to skip if you're up to your eyeballs in people ranting already:)
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
International T-Shirt Day: Pgh Style
What an amazingly fun themed happy hour last night (Mon, June 21st). If you missed it, you missed out!
Lindsay Patross (I Heart Pgh), Brett Wiewiora (Only in Pgh) and Dan Rugh (Commonwealth Press) joined forces to host the Pgh celebration of International T-Shirt Day at CWpress and at Over The Bar Bicycle Cafe (OTB) for a happy hour. Responding to a Fb call for collaborators on Friday morning (6/18), myself and Jon Brentzel from AIGA Pgh were added to this great team to help spread the word to our Pgh networks.
http://iheartpgh.com/
http://onlyinpgh.com/
http://www.cwpress.com/
http://www.pittsburgh.aiga.org/
Great conversations were had and new networking friends were made. Additionally, everyone walked away with at least one more awesome t-shirt than they came in wearing. I started the day by buying one $15 shirt from CWpress (my new favorite) and went home with two more... what a deal?! I won my last t-shirt which is of the Pgh neighborhoods that's by my design buddy, Phil Mollenkof: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Pittsburgh-Map/446144
This Pgh T-Shirt Day celebration is intended as a promo / build up for 'The Pittsburgh Shirt Show.' So, there's still hope for you to get in on all the fun that you missed out on last night. Visit iheartpgh's blog and sign up for their email list. You'll be kept up-to-date on the upcoming event (tentatively set for July).
While you're at it, stop by CWpress in the South Side (Carson and 20th, across from Utrect). I bought my Pgh tee over my lunch break in order to be ready for the festivities. All the guys at CWpress are super cool, they have a ton of great shirts available (http://www.compressmerch.com/) and the screen presses are visible from the entry way. Best of all, you'll be greeted by Art of Board's recent installation -- see all about it and interior pics of CWpress here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=186249&id=133099328675&ref=pb
Looking forward to future collaborations with this electic group of movers-and-shakers. Kudos again to all participating parties for a great evening!
See Jon Bretzel's photo recap: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2240934&id=60713112
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
When Good Decor Goes Bad
I just came back from a fabulous referral networking breakfast held at a newly removed King's restaurant. To give a quick plug, check out the the Sewickley Professional Referral Exchange here:
http://www.prorefx.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=members.members&ID=152
On with setting the scene for the rant... Kudos to Kings for the update to their identity and dining experience. Where I grew up near Somerset, PA, Kings was the place to go (2nd to Eat'nPark, of course) and I remember enjoying many-a Roast Beef/Meatloaf Sandwiches smothered in gravy growing up. The dining experience back in those days was country-style family (aka: one huge senior citizen stopping ground), but I enjoyed it for what it was nevertheless.
If you haven't been to a remodeled one recently, it's worth a visit. For better or for worse, they've aligned themselves to be more like Eat'nPark, but it's a lovely bright lit, colorful environment with trendy/tasteful decor and furnishings.
Now for the rant portion... I faced this wall (below) for the entire referral meeting and kept being drawn in (not in a good way) by the use of typography for decoration sake. It looks like the type solution addressed the initial problem of 'Flour' being too long for the allotted box -- see far left block. That kind works and I've liked that approach on other designerly/decorative promotion pieces like posters, postcards and/or book covers.
The problem is the execution throughout the rest of the decor panel. I'm all for consistency, but the 'Milk' block is the one that kept catching my eye as a distraction; its short enough to FIT in the box?! Decor is supposed to be decor -- creating an atmosphere, an experience -- not attention grabbing and memorable (in a negative way) like it was for me. Maybe it's because I'm a designer, but I think my background/sensibility just gives me the ability to understand and translate what other people notice on a subconscious level.
I'm not going to even address the tension created by the type placed up against the borders or that the 'x' height alternates outside of the box (either the bottom 1/4 or top 1/4 is cropped-off). In short, for this huge panel... Boo, Kings... boo:P
http://www.prorefx.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=members.members&ID=152
On with setting the scene for the rant... Kudos to Kings for the update to their identity and dining experience. Where I grew up near Somerset, PA, Kings was the place to go (2nd to Eat'nPark, of course) and I remember enjoying many-a Roast Beef/Meatloaf Sandwiches smothered in gravy growing up. The dining experience back in those days was country-style family (aka: one huge senior citizen stopping ground), but I enjoyed it for what it was nevertheless.
If you haven't been to a remodeled one recently, it's worth a visit. For better or for worse, they've aligned themselves to be more like Eat'nPark, but it's a lovely bright lit, colorful environment with trendy/tasteful decor and furnishings.
Now for the rant portion... I faced this wall (below) for the entire referral meeting and kept being drawn in (not in a good way) by the use of typography for decoration sake. It looks like the type solution addressed the initial problem of 'Flour' being too long for the allotted box -- see far left block. That kind works and I've liked that approach on other designerly/decorative promotion pieces like posters, postcards and/or book covers.
The problem is the execution throughout the rest of the decor panel. I'm all for consistency, but the 'Milk' block is the one that kept catching my eye as a distraction; its short enough to FIT in the box?! Decor is supposed to be decor -- creating an atmosphere, an experience -- not attention grabbing and memorable (in a negative way) like it was for me. Maybe it's because I'm a designer, but I think my background/sensibility just gives me the ability to understand and translate what other people notice on a subconscious level.
I'm not going to even address the tension created by the type placed up against the borders or that the 'x' height alternates outside of the box (either the bottom 1/4 or top 1/4 is cropped-off). In short, for this huge panel... Boo, Kings... boo:P
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Update: Keep/Cut: Facebook Spring Cleanup
So... it took me a while to get around to it, but I began the day with 387; now down to 287. It took me several rounds of cutting, but I met my 100 friends slimmer goal. For those who survived the fallout, God help us all.
In classic master-of-my-own-limited-domain-style, there are a number of folks who made the cut that I was on the fence over keeping/cutting. I consider them to be on probation... waiting to see them make any of the fore mentioned activity to make the cut decision.
There was something liberating about making these cuts. At first, I was a little apprehensive about cutting some folks... almost like they were going to be mad (still having the long-seeded tendency to care about what people think; it's a tough habit to break). That quickly faded when: 1) I realized that I was reacting to my perception of what people would think and 2) I found it easier and easier to make cuts once I got the ball rolling.
It reminded me of an episode of Hoarders. Most of the hoarders interviewed are not happy about their current lifestyle but have that apprehension and overwhelming uncertainty of not knowing where to begin. 1/2 way through the show (usually with the help of an intercessor), the hoarder makes huge progress, very quickly, once the decision-making ball starts rolling.
Finally, I'm not sure if Facebook is purposely trying to stroke people's egos because I discovered that most of my 'friends' are indeed not people but businesses (as I had suspected in my previous post). However, when looking at the friends breakdown, there are friends and pages distinctions... meaning the pages that I 'like' still show up as 'friends.' Perhaps, Fb would be wiser to go the LinkedIn route of calling friends a more general 'connections' instead.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Keep/Cut: 100 Friend Facebook Spring Cleanup
A recent glitch in my Facebook news feed settings -- people/businesses that I had specifically chosen to 'hide' for a number of reasons, made their way back into my feed this weekend, uninvited -- caused me to re-evaluate the unspoken Fb rule that you must keep all the people you 'friend' and the game that the more friends you acquire = you win.
Remember the old days when everyone and their mothers (literally) weren't on Fb? When you could talk to the people you wanted to talk to without the world watching? When you could post a rant or tongue-in-cheek blurb and people that you haven't seen in 10+ years (who wouldn't know your sarcasm and cynicism has aged along with you) weren't there to scold, correct, worry about you or otherwise 'mom' you via the comments? I kinda miss those good old days...
Facebook has been around long enough that most of us have been using it for years -- I think that it's time for a little countercultural backlash. Hmm... maybe that's too strong of a phrase. It's more of a natural life cycle occurance of any new device or fad/trend -- everyone jumps on board and then there's either: a) leveling out period; or b) the thing becomes so big that it fails and off to the next bandwagon everyone goes.
There's been a lot of backlash to Fb via the privacy changes and increased advertising, but what I propose is a little less high level and more of a introspective look to take back the control of ones own virtual account/life (and maybe your mental health, too).
Spring is the time to go through your house/apt and clean out all your closets of clothes and other things collecting dust that you haven't seen or worn in a year or so. I'm going to apply the same principle to the cleanup (or in Pittsburghese, 'red-up') of my friend list. The following is the checklist of criteria that I will be applying to this slim down... the end goal; 2/3 cut down to 100 friends or less:
Keep friends or businesses if:
- you enjoy their witty or pithy posts; wish they would post more often; virtually stock them to find their humorous allegories on other posts and pages
- they post interesting articles or videos -- industry specific or totally random/entertaining
- they've got their finger on the pulse of the local social scene -- the only reason you find out about 1/2 the local happenings is because a post in your news feed alerts you that they are attending a Fb event... you immediately check it out and maybe attend:)
- they are great photographers and their compositions inspire you
- you're building your professional network of clients, business partners, colleagues and peers -- you'll actually get to know them better through their fb posts and have something meaningful to chat about at the next happy hour or next business meeting
Cut friends/businesses if:
- you have hidden them from your news feed (for any reason... most of which follow)
- you forgot that they were friends because you accepted their request and never heard from them again
- you only met them once at some event, long, long ago, and cannot (for the life of you) remember who they are or how you know them
- on a daily basis, you have to hide more than one application that they subscribe to; when you check out their wall... all their activity involves fb applications
- for sales prospecting purposes, they are constantly hounding you to become a fan of their business page... even after you've responded with an ignore on their past 5 page suggestions
- their frequent posts are an ongoing matter-of-fact narrative of what they are doing right now and that they mistakenly think the world should know about every detail
* disclaimer: I use fb as an entertaining escape and do not care to be reminded of the trite everyday; I live in it, too... it's boring and usually uneventful, that's why I'm monitoring Fb
- they are those parents that photo-documenting every single movement of their little ones lives, AND they are not good photographers
* disclaimer #2: I'm not a parent and I'm sure I'll do the same thing if I ever become one... many, many years from now. However, some of you could have single-handedly kept the Kodak plant in Rochester, NY pumping out the goods, had not digital killed the film.
- you find yourself constantly rolling your eyes when their posts pop up on your news feed; there's a whole group established around this, Reading someone's status and thinking 'oh shut the hell up;' if it's a consistent occurrence, please stop complaining about it and just unfriend
- you discover that you share almost nothing in common anymore with the people that you knew at one specific point in your life. It's known as situational friends... it's okay that after the situation ends, your friendship comes to a close as well; some friendships don't last forever (online or otherwise)
- you find that your views on many personally important issues and values are in direct/complete opposition AND you get really fired up when you read their frequent posts about it... just unfriend, it's not worth the time/energy to debate the issues, nothing good becomes of it
- you're friends with a business; there was a weird early period of fb business pages where you became friends with an inanimate object. All of them now have a 'like' button. Delete the friendship and like them instead... this alone will cleanup about 100 of your friends.
*PS:'Like' On The Vine on Fb
Also note, this does not apply to On The Vine's business page... keep all your biz friends and contacts, but do act as a wall moderator and censor the posts that are negative or unbecoming to your biz's identity and continued success.
Feel free to post in the comments 1) any other checklist items; and 2) the results of your own Fb spring cleaning. I'll be cutting in the next few days... results TBC.
Note: see the update in this article.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Business Networking in Pgh
I've found the following extremely useful for new business, referrals, inspiration, encouragement and camaraderie during this transition into self-employment.
I recommend trying a few and seeing how you fit within the dynamic of the group, the time/cost ratio, etc. I don't intend on staying a member of all of these listed -- unless I don't intend to have time to work on any new business generated by these groups.
As the ol' clique goes: Time is money; since it's a super valuable and rare commodity, make the most of it by being picky/choosy about which ways you acquire new business leads and moral support.
- WBN (Women's Business Network)
http://www.wbninc.com/ - WSBA (Women's Small Business Association)
http://www.meetup.com/Womens-Small-Business-Association/ - Meetup.com
http://www.meetup.com/
Groups I belong to/recommend:
- http://www.meetup.com/Success-In-Networking-Group/
- http://www.meetup.com/Pittsburgh-Small-Business/
- http://entrepreneur.meetup.com/58/
- http://www.meetup.com/pittsburgh-freelance/
- http://businessnetwork.meetup.com/1001/
- http://www.meetup.com/GreensburgEntrepreneurs/
I recommend trying a few and seeing how you fit within the dynamic of the group, the time/cost ratio, etc. I don't intend on staying a member of all of these listed -- unless I don't intend to have time to work on any new business generated by these groups.
As the ol' clique goes: Time is money; since it's a super valuable and rare commodity, make the most of it by being picky/choosy about which ways you acquire new business leads and moral support.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Value of LinkedIn
It's interesting the things that I've discovered so far on this 'starting my own business' journey. One simple yet impactful one is the usefulness of LinkedIn.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/srexroth
As a creative professional that's no stranger to networking in the industry, I really never understood why I needed a LinkedIn account. Mind you, I had one, but never saw the value. The main reason being that most of my professional LinkedIn connections are also my Facebook friends. I spend waaaay more time on Facebook keeping up with folks than LinkedIn — particularly since both have similar news feed/status updating capabilities.
Discussing the purpose of this professional social network with friends, colleagues and clients, I've come to realize the value of LinkedIn is not to connect you with your friends/acquaintances (Facebook does a better job of keeping people in touch, in my opinion), but to connect you with potential clients who are connected to your friends/clients/acquaintances/etc.
It's a safe way and convenient way for potential clients to see your living resumé/portfolio — following where you've been professionally and what you're doing right now by reading your blog through a LinkedIn app. They can get a much better sense of your personality and capabilities than one could ever get from a one-page static resumé (which you can also post on your LinkedIn page for those die-hard HR individuals).
It's the little realizations and epiphanies that are making this transitional time of my life so enjoyable and interesting.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/srexroth
As a creative professional that's no stranger to networking in the industry, I really never understood why I needed a LinkedIn account. Mind you, I had one, but never saw the value. The main reason being that most of my professional LinkedIn connections are also my Facebook friends. I spend waaaay more time on Facebook keeping up with folks than LinkedIn — particularly since both have similar news feed/status updating capabilities.
Discussing the purpose of this professional social network with friends, colleagues and clients, I've come to realize the value of LinkedIn is not to connect you with your friends/acquaintances (Facebook does a better job of keeping people in touch, in my opinion), but to connect you with potential clients who are connected to your friends/clients/acquaintances/etc.
It's a safe way and convenient way for potential clients to see your living resumé/portfolio — following where you've been professionally and what you're doing right now by reading your blog through a LinkedIn app. They can get a much better sense of your personality and capabilities than one could ever get from a one-page static resumé (which you can also post on your LinkedIn page for those die-hard HR individuals).
It's the little realizations and epiphanies that are making this transitional time of my life so enjoyable and interesting.
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