…And He’s Off

There he goes! After 3 continual days of making lists and checking them twice, thrice, five times, more, we finally got to a point where nothing else would fit into the Container Store trunk anyhow, so it was time to move it into the car. Eric dropped Adam and me off at Jet Blue, and while he parked the car, we removed a change of clothing and one (1) hiking boot from the trunk so that there would only be a $50 charge for overweight luggage. By that time Eric had found us…we walked to the security area and after a couple of pictures, hugged and kissed and waved him off. It’s 9:38–he’s probably just getting out of the plane, now. I prt-screened the Jet Blue site showing his plane at JFK. What an adventure. What a year he’s going to have. This is truly the first day of the rest of his life. I could see something change in Adam’s eyes as he gave us that look of “I am my own responsibility right now.” Wow.

To think that just a few seconds before, when I purchased an ethernet cable at the airport Brookstone, Adam thought keeping the receipt was a good idea. And when I helped arrange the suitcase, it was a good idea. And when Eric packed the suitcase, it was a good idea. But it’s his stuff now, and his responsibility and his life. Wow! That was pretty quick–wasn’t it?

Gorgeous green backpack in place; laptop over his shoulder. There he goes!

Jet Blue Flight 1003 BOS-JFK

Social Media Overload

Well, I’m toast! From PodCamp3 to Social Media Night at AMA to work to seesmic time, I don’t know how anyone gets anything done with all this social media. I’m not going to rush to post all the PodCamp3 stuff with links–because it’s too late and I’m too tired. But I am going to say that with every hour I feel there will be more and more reasons to learn about and take advantage of social media for work, play and everything in-between.

Seesmic is so easy–maybe too easy. Because now I’ve seen drunken silly people as well as interesting conversations there. Finding time to write is exactly what I’ve searched for for many years…but I should do this first thing in the morning because frankly, at this hour, I’m too, too tired. (11pm-ish)

The cool thing is that I keep thinking of things to write – and now, assuming I can find this blog page (which I can’t always find…) I have a place to put my thoughts in writing.

PodCamp3 – Day 2 – Number 1

I went back for day 2 of the coolest conference today. PodCamp3, Day 2 is absolutely number 1 in my book. Between yesterday and today I picked up a bunch of Twitterists. And today I learned even more than yesterday–probably because the vocab was no longer so new. The fact that I actually started this blog last night means that I’m ‘a blogger’ already. The tweets came trippingly off my mobile phone. The ideas for how to integrate a few ideas at work and a million ideas at play kept flying around my mind.

Find of the day, seesmic.com I just cannot wait to start seesmic-ing. Video IMs. The buzz in the room was palpably grand. The down-to-earth enthusiasm inviting. About 12-15 sees-ers were meeting for the first time, and couldn’t get enough of one another, because they had met online and PodCamp3 gave them a chance to actually meet.

I loved their love of it. And cannot wait to join. And since it’s already late for me, I think I’ll go sign up and sees–and finish this tomorrow.

Thanks to Guido Stein for telling me how much he loves the name of my blog. He actually said it’s the perfect name for a blog. I like that! I have no idea how he, or anyone else, will end up seeing this. But that’s all part of the learning process. Guido is the knitting guy. I’ll link you tomorrow, GS.

Nitey-night all.

We all sing for PodCamp

Nothing like PodCamp to inspire -you name it — in social media. I was a little nervous before walking into lofty halls of the new Hahvahd Med School building, across from Boston Latin. But the energy and normalcy of the crowd made everyone feel at home. No one was afraid to ask for definitions, (wiki, blog, podcast, mixer). People of all levels presented with knowledge and humor.

I did not know what to expect at my first session on Nobitics and Novels. It was on the philosophy of creating collaboratively in the workplace. Well, as an editor who has been treated with occasional hostility that’s definitely something I can identify with. Because I do use collaborative techniques to encourage my analysts. Presenter’s best suggestion: write ‘wiki-style’ before posting to the public. It strengthens the writing and prevents lots of back-and-forths. Good idea!

On to the next thing. But I have to interrupt this tale to say that each ‘thing,’ and its ‘next thing,’ was augmented by informal, informative chats in the hallways. So before the UnKeynote, I met Kathleen Lyons (link latah) of Textile Travel. And I met the woman in orange who laughed at the name of my proposed blog (here it is!) and Sadelle on the way to lunch, who told me about the Knitting world with its most popular blog status–who knew!

There’s a whole lot of Social Media going on, so session 2 was in the freezing auditorium on staying productive with all this social media going on. Be ruthless! he said. And so I’ve already begun clearing AARP out of my in box. Since I don’t belong, and they’re not offering me any discounts til I’m much, much older, I’m telling them ‘be gone!’

N joined me apres lunch She”s skeptical< but able to feel the buzzz. I went onto “What Knitting Taught Me about Social media” and a packed forum on “Social Media and the Arts” This is phenomenal! I can’t wait to play with Quilting and Social Media. Ideas abound.

And then at the end of the day, I heard a business-y one about how Email is Alive and Well in Social Media. How true, how true. After all, the first thing every site asks is…what’s your email address.

I feel like I’m joining the next century!In the spirit of PodCamp, I twittered the day. The titles of conferences and the key findings. I now have 8 followers! What a riot! And in the spirit of camp, N and I even heard the sounds of guitars in the lobby, just like a Camp Nokomis song fest. (Kumbaya? Fire’s burning in the gloaming…what is a gloaming! glowming?)

Can’t wait to see what goes on today, day two.

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