Do you need to work better on seizing the day? Carpe Diem!

While a whole bunch of you leaving me comments are spammers, there are many kind people who have left me comments to savor.  And I owe you an explanation of why I haven’t been updating the blog lately or posting your comments.

As many of you know from reading previous posts, my husband is a four time cancer survivor.  We are now hoping to beat it for the fifth time.  And this time is very different.  Caught very early, we are living with this cancer because it cannot be removed by surgery as it is on his remaining kidney.  The good news is that it is slow growing.  So, slow, in fact, that when recently tested again, we’re in another watch and wait mode for four months until he’ll be tested again.

I am finding this very unsettling this time.  “The Saint,” as my parents refer to my husband, just takes it all in stride, confidently putting it in God’s hands.  The control freak (that would be me) has more trouble doing that; while I’m great at putting it in His hands, I keep taking it back!

So, while I’m muddling through this time, and trying to manage what is on my plate, I’ve eased up on myself for a time – trying to pace myself better, during this (my most professionally demanding) time of the year.  Perhaps you, like me, need to work on “seizing the day” better.

I am most grateful for the patience of my students, the support of my colleagues at school, the Social CMO crew (because I’m not pulling my weight there right now), clients, Twitter friends, and my extended family.  And I’m making progress; I finally purchased our plane tickets, committing us to that trip to Ireland we’ve been talking about for so long.  Yes, the little Pennsylvania Dutch boy is taking his Irish girl to her homeland.  And this precious memory-in-the-making is helping me better cope with life’s uncertainties right now.

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How SXSW Inspired Me

As I am flying home from my first SXSW, my mind is reeling. Spinning really. Having worked in digital development and communications for 15 years, I’ve been to dozens if not a hundred conferences. But never has one affected me so profoundly. To be immersed in a creative, collaborative and hyper-connected environment was amazing.

In many ways, it was like I walked out of Plato’s cave for the first time only to wonder that despite all of my experience and exptertise, have I spent 1.5 decades merely looking at the shadows on the walls. There are too many experiences and ideas rattling around in my head than I could really convey and share at this point. But one feeling that I have to share is a bit of sadness. I feel supremely inspired, but with that comes a bit of depression.

I have dozens of learnings and lessons to apply at McDonalds. Dozens of news tools and techniques that I master, both personally and professionally. I am awestruck by the possibilities of online learning to fix so many maladies of both our educational system and the flaled local funding systems that support them. I want to join more boards. Volunteer at charities. There are three startups that I want to start up. Which is exactly where the depression comes in. I have but one life to live. I am bound by that infinite and infernal curse of having a mere 24 hours in a day. I miss my sons terribly and already feel like they are growing up without me.

I want to jump and learn and discover and build. I also want to cry when I think of the many thousands of miles that both currently and in the future will separate me from my family. This is far from a lament. This is an opportunity. If my experience in Austin taught me anything, it is that we are living on the precipice of a new age where any problem is solvable. It is up to me to define the problem and find the solution.

SXSW 2012 is a year away. That is 365 days to see if I can solve both problems I see and ones that I have yet to fully define and comprehend. Both personally and professionally. So expect a new focus on my blog. I don’t necessarily want to write more (because forced blogging could be yet another burden to shoulder) but I want to write better. I want to develop a focus that applies the lessons of the last four days into methodical and focused journey to fixing these problems. I welcome thoughts, tips and general sharing as I count down the 365 days until the next Austin moment.

Rick Wion

What the Heck is Good Content Anyway?

Earlier this week, I talked about the importance of blog post frequency. If you’re not updating your blog regularly, it’s the first thing that sends me packing.

However, blog frequency means absolutely nothing if you don’t have good content to back it up. That’s why the very best blogs in the world offer killer content on a consistent basis.

If you spend any amount of time reading blogs, you’re likely to hear “content is king”. While that is most certainly true, trying to achieve truly great content is a lot easier said than done.

So, what the heck is good content anyway?

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The Power of YES

I love anticipating the smell of the Thanksgiving turkey roasting all day at home, and the lingering scent it leaves behind for a few days until my 14′ douglas fir arrives.  (Even though I’m allergic to the tree, the beauty of its’ fullness and soft evergreen needles keeps me coming back.  My husband and grandson say no more 200 lb. trees are coming in the house; we’ll see….) 

This year, my side of the family gathered at Bricker’s Pizza in Hershey for Thanksgiving; my nephew, Robbie, has worked there part-time since his college days.  Since his girlfriend’s family and our whole family convened to celebrate the holiday, we needed someplace to meet that could accommodate all of us.  Even though he’s now finished graduate school and works as a civil engineer, he still loves filling in at the pizza shop when they need help.  His gal, Lauren, is a senior at Indiana University of Pennsylvania; they’ve been dating since January, thanks to his aunt Jenny (who set them up on a blind date then). 

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