Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You’re only a stranger once.

The Story Behind the Story….of SOBCon

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Today’s guest post is from Terry Starbucker

Terry Starbucker is a service company executive and a founder of SOBCon who writes about leadership, personal development, and social media in his blog, Ramblings From a Glass Half Full. He also shares his love of music and learning on Twitter as @starbucker

Let me tell you a story……

In May 2007, there was a gathering at a Chicago hotel.

75 people hung out together for a weekend, and talked about their craft, their passions, and their lives.

It turned out to be magical. Trust was high. Candor was abundant. Egos were checked at the door. There was a depth to the dialogue that prompted many to declare how “life changing” it was.

There were no barriers to learning. And it was good.

One year later, it happened again. The magic returned, this time for over 100 people in a downtown place that welcomed them with hospitality and great food. More lives were changed for the better.

Could it happen a third time? Yes. In May of 2009, 125 people felt it too.

The magic.

Where did this come from? Who was capable of conjuring up the ingredients of this potent mixture of trust, humility, and candor?

It had to be someone who lives and breathes these qualities. Who deeply believes in the basic generosity of the human spirit.

That’s where the magic comes from – that belief.

When that person entered the room at those three gatherings in Chicago, something wonderful happened. This person was the catalyst of a powerful enabling force that unlocked that same generous spirit from everyone there.

That’s really the “story behind the story” of this gathering we call SOBCon – the person who made it happen.

That person is Liz Strauss.

Without her these gatherings would not have taken place. No magic, no learning, and no life-altering experiences.

Liz Strauss IS SOBCon.

And she will once again be in a downtown Chicago room (yep, the one with the great food) with 150 people from April 30-May 2, 2010, nurturing and enabling this “think tank with a heart”.

The theme - “Virtual meets the concrete”. 2 ½ days of strategies and tactics focused on merging your online and offline worlds into a successful business.

Will you be there? Are you willing to learn from 150 “fearless sharers” –and will you share your experiences and wisdom as well?

Are you ready for the magic??

If you are, go to our registration site right now, and get in the room. (Don’t miss the video in the Event Details)

If you are not, and perhaps need a bit more information, or convincing, or both –check out the links I shared up above, and read as many of the recaps as you can. Or, just read Liz’s recap of SOBCon09, or my thoughts on why SOBCon matters to me.

Oh, and as a little added incentive, we’ll knock off $200 from the registration cost if you sign up before December 16.

C’mon, be a part of these ongoing stories – and join us in Chicago for SOBCon2010!

Thanks.

(And get well partner – much love to the magic maker!)

What Juliann Grant Said … About Creating Futures

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A community isn’t built or befriended,
it’s connected by offering and accepting.
Community is affinity, identity, and kinship
that make room for ideas, thoughts, and solutions.
Wherever a community gathers, we aspire and inspire each other intentionally . . . And our words shine with authenticity.

The Faraway Future

We place a goal and set off to our future. But as we travel, questions, roadblocks, and unexpected problems interrupt us. Choices and decisions fork the road, muddle our clear path and diffuse directed our thinking. How do create our futures?

Here’s what Juliann said . . .

. . . somehow I always find the right information from the right person at the right time. Something about being aligned with our purpose, and being a little fearless in our exploration (HT to Richard Reeve) that opens up the right doors. It is very helpful to have a core group of people to trust and get continual feedback on our personal and professional development. What you have laid out is precisely what good leaders must do to build their vision around the future they desire to create.

Juliann Grant from a comment on November 13, 2008

A successful and outstanding blogger said that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

So Tell Me, Are You Feeling Lucky?

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The dictionary says that luck is an outside force Lucky means that we receive good fortune or get hit by adversity.

Around here, we we define it differently.

When we say lucky on this blog, we mean ways we connect … Jannie said:
I feel my gurus thus far are you, Barbara Swafford, Cath Lawson and Vered … I feel awfully lucky.

people who encourage us … Vicky said:
I love Melissa and Life In Perpetual Beta too!
I am so lucky to know both of you personally. You both enrich my life and I believe God sent you both to me. To encourage me to dream big as both of you do and you know I have big plans too!

about making our own dreams … Patricia said:
Sigh. This is my dream, to live near the beach and take long walks on the sand.
So soothing. You must conjure lots of dreams for this community on those beach walks. Lucky for us!

We use lucky to talk about relationships … Writer Dad said:
My son and I wake up before anyone else. Every morning he reminds me how lucky I am.

appreciation and gratitude … Karl said:
I take a second to step back and try to appreciate the spot that I am in. It helps me gain perspective and feel lucky to do whatever it is I’m doing. Even giving a financial literacy talk to a bunch of bored teenagers is enjoyable.

I catch myself doing the same thing.
I’m one very lucky blogger.
Don’t think I don’t know that.

Around here, luck doesn’t happen to us.
We choose it for ourselves — in the people we love and the paths we walk.

Luck is an action, a choice, and a point of view.

So tell me, are you feeling lucky?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Image: sxc.hu
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Find a Moment of Gold

Filed Under Motivation/Inspiration, Successful Blog | 4 Comments

Put Gold in What You’re Doing Now

Yellow_Lily_by_Liz_Strauss

We’ve all had one — a moment of gold, a moment when the sun shines on us, and we’re something made of success. How we got there was part head, part heart, and a whole lot of determination that knocked down walls as we went.

In a moment of gold, some folks don’t understand what makes that moment so worth celebrating. Ah, to them, what we’ve some seems a small thing, but we know that the distance from point A to point B was not a straight or simple line. Math might always be. Life hardly ever is.

With all of the choices that move us forward, with all of the wishes and plans that our hearts hold, we need to be sure that we savor our accomplishments and celebrate our successes. Those golden moments are what propel us forward to make more spectacular things happen.

Stop a minute. Recall the sunlight. Find a moment of gold from your past.

What can you take from that moment to fuel what you’re doing now?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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Social Promotion and a Japanese Maple

Filed Under Motivation/Inspiration, Successful Blog | 14 Comments

When We’re Fully Expressed . . .

relationships button

The hardest part of any event used to be meeting many new people in a short time. Setting a great first impression in seconds was more than I could get my social skills around. I’d either get too big or too small. I’d never be just right.

Part of my problem was that I put too much value on social promotion. I could never quite meet strangers as simply who I am.

A wise, highly successful friend never seemed to have a problem like mine. So I took to watching him instead. Almost immediately I realized the difference was in the way he looked at himself and what he does.

My friend thinks of what he’s accomplished simply as things he has done and things he does. To him, his work is nothing more than that. As a result, no matter who asks him about it, his answers sounds as if he’s explaining his a day to a curious friend. He doesn’t weigh how what he’s saying might reflect upon another person’s idea of him.

Japanese_maple_by_Liz_Strauss


When we fully accept what we’re good at, we don’t mind talking about what we do. We’re not waiting for others to value it. We don’t get shy standing in the light.

Does that make sense to you?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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