Successful Blog

Open Mic at 7pm Chicago Time — We’re Going to OZ!

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We’re Off to See the Wizard!

Personal Branding logo

YES, the mic will be open again tonight. So start collecting your thoughts. Remember, you get to bring what you want to talk about.

The rules are simple — be nice.

There are always first timers and new things to talk about.

Tonight we’re going to OZ!.

We might also talk about

  • Dorothy and Toto
  • The Scarecrow, The Tinman, The Cowardly Lion
  • The Munchkins, The Witches, The Flying Monkeys
  • A Horse of a Different Color and OZ himself

AND THE EVER POPULAR,

Basil the code-writing donkey.

It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME.

And we’ll be in OZ

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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We’re All Creative 1: The Bunnies Prove It

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I Drive Myself Crazy Crazier

Creativity at Work

Yesterdays post on 10 Reasons Creative Folks Make Us Crazy — The 10 Dimensions of Creative Complexity got quite a response, particularly on a couple of forums. The most interesting part was that in the comments about the post it seemed that

  1. the folks commenting didn’t seem to have read the entire post, only the list.
  2. they also didn’t know this blog or they would understand that I count myself among the people who drive people crazy.
  3. they didn’t catch my personal belief that everyone is creative.

The fact is I drive myself crazy crazier the more I think. The other fact is business schools need creative thinkers more than ever. The whole world does if we want to get anything to change around here.

With those thoughts in mind, I dug out a piece that explains my thoughts on creativity. I’m posting it because the bunnies prove that we’re all creative types. [Read more…]

Happy Blogtipping August 1

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Three Really Great People

blogtipping icon 1

Each of these folks brings a special humanity to the blogosphere you can see that in the energy and insight of every word that they write. So today being Blogtipping Day, August 1, I tip my blog to them.

Here’s how it works.

  • Choose three or more bloggers you admire and link to them,
  • List three reasons why you admire each one.
  • Then add a tip at the end.

That’s all there is to it.

1. Ann at Manage to Change. I tip my blog to you because

  • You blog about ideas that people need to think about, yet you do it with heart and humanity that gives them depth and appeal.
  • You care about the community and leave your blog to seek it out. Then you share the ideas with your readers in wonderful ways.
  • You are one of the most supportive commenters I’ve read in the blogosphere. You’re specific and insightful, and you say what you mean.

    • My blog tip: Consider writing a post on Liz’s Blog :).

    2. Tammy at Marketing Basics

  • You have great way of incorporating what you read into dynamite blog posts.
  • Your writing voice is warm, delightful, and filled with energy.
  • Your comments always call me to action. They deserve a thoughtful response because you have taken the time to think about what you read and to thoughtfully comment.

    • My blog tip: Your comments are the best promotion for your blog. Use them often and liberally at new blogs every week.

    3. Robert at Accidental Taorist

  • Your twist on things is unique and special. Your thoughts and your humor are your brand.
  • You write better than you give yourself credit for or than you believe. Push the envelope a little and have fun with it.
  • You understand how to make a reader feel that there’s a real person behind the screen. I often feel like you live inside my computer.

    • My blog tip: I love your template, but I’d love it better if it worked in IE. 🙂

    –Me “Liz” Strauss

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    Net Neutrality 8-1-2006

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    Net Neutrality Links

    I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

    More networked journalism: All for one, one for all

    Imagine this from the vision of Tom Evslin: What if all our Skype widgets had a button that allowed us to test and report the speed at which our Skype voice packets were being allowed through by our ISPs. What if then — following the 1 percent rule — just 400,000 of Skype’s 40-million-plus regular users hit that button and reported in how Skype’s — and other applications’ packets — were treated by their ISPs.

    This would produce an incredible data base showing whether ISPs are, indeed, discriminating against certain packets and applications to advantage their own. I suspect Cablevision of playing wack-a-mole with my Skype because it works fine on slower lines elsewhere but horribly when I try to do interviews with the Guardian or the BBC (which prefer Skype) from home. But I have absolutely no way of knowing whether this is true. . . .

    Now a reporter could take that data and go to ISPs to find out their side and get a good story out of this that has a big impact — one way or the other — on the net neutrality debate. Is there a smoking gun of discrimination to favor ISPs own packets? Or not? Let’s find out and report it.

    Now, of course, there is also a sort of Heisenberg principle (using the bastardized definition of it) at work here: When the reporter calls, the ISP may say, ‘Oh, this is a mistake. We don’t discriminate.’ And whatever was switched on gets switched off. Or this could happen simply when the ISPs notice that they are being watched by the magic button. So the act of reporting affects the news reported (but then, it often does).

    Now a journalist might say that this ruins the story. But the essential role of reporting remains in force: Journalism is a watchdog and now companies know that their customers are their watchdogs. Every customer is now a reporter.

    –ME “Liz” Strauss

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    Chartreuse Offers $1000 for NEW ORLEANS Story

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    Prince Puts Up His Own Money

    Prince Campbell got an email from Katrina Victims saying that FEMA wouldn’t let them talk to reporters. It bothered him. He posted the email on his blog, but the memory of it wouldn’t go away. He had to do something. So today he made an offer — $1000, a rental car, a place to stay, and a fine video camera to go down there and get the real story.

    Look at it as a vacation that matters. . . .

    Prince said. I’ll post the story on this site and some others.. . .

    Let’s do something important.

    The comments that followed raised the ante.

    Minic Rivera Says:
    July 31st, 2006 at 10:33 am
    The Blogging Times would like to sponsor $250 for this noble plan of getting the truth out.

    Matt Says:
    July 31st, 2006 at 12:40 pm
    I’m in for $250. I think we can do a true citizens media event here.

    Matty

    Andy H Says:
    July 31st, 2006 at 3:26 pm
    Andy Hagans Link Building LLC is in for 100usd. [/cheapskate]

    Several people volunteered for the job. Several more applauded the idea. Maybe as many said it was crazy and a waste of money, stating that the story has been done and that it’s easy enough to check out without going there.

    I wrote the 54th comment a few minutes ago.

    Liz Strauss Says:
    July 31st, 2006 at 10:15 pm
    It seems that some folks have total faith in the media . . . that’s an interesting thought to me. I guess working in publishing has jaded that part of this Pollyanna.

    My dad always said don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.

    My dad was a really smart man, too. He wuold have liked you a lot, Chartreuse.

    What do you think?

    –ME “Liz” Strauss”
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    Interview 7.1: Meet Cat Wentworth, World Designer

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    Meet Cat

    I first saw Cat’s Blog, (click this shot to visit it) . . .

    I discovered Designers who blog when I was looking for great designers to feature. Then she submitted her blog for the Link Leak Blog-to Show that Successful Blog held earlier this year. I was delighted to meet her and a new friendship was forged.

    Now I get a chance to share this amazing woman and designer with you.

    I sent Cat a number of questions that I figured she might answer over a number of days and they came back in a number of minutes. . . . That shows a lot about who she is.

    Today we’ll explore how she got started.

    Hi Cat! Where’d you grow up and how did you end up in that part of the world? What’s it like for a blogger there?

    Ok, that’s three questions.
    a) Where’d you grow up
    My parents were expats (expatriates) so I grew up overseas. Not all the time as in between we were stationed in places such as Fairbanks, Alaska where I lucked out and lived through the great Alaskan earthquake. Sadly, my aunt who was visiting did not. Our last posting was Blenheim, New Zealand. I will always remember the land of the long white cloud as god’s country. Kiwi’s are a very lucky people.

    b) how did you end up in that part of the world?
    France was too expensive so I took off for warmer, more amenable lands.

    c) What’s it like for a blogger there?
    Lonely at times as the US is asleep for the majority of my day, and whooping it up when I’m asleep. But it also means I get a lot done.

    What got you started in online design?

    When I decided to relocate from Brunei, I realised working in web would be more practical than print, which was my entry into the world of design. To explain, in Brunei I had local clients and a range of off-station clients. With a possible move to another country (and perhaps another after that) working 100% via the intenet made more sense.

    So that’s how Cat got to be a world online designer. Next we find out how Cat faced diversity to become a blogger.

    –ME “Liz” Strauss

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