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June 2014 Gathering in Chicago with Liz Strauss

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Dear Friends & Community,

Thank you for your interest in being part of the gathering in Chicago that is being held June 27 -29, 2014 with Liz Strauss. Paul O’’Mahony, Eric T. Strauss and I have been working behind the scenes to develop a weekend that will be full of amazing connections, wonderful learnings and inspiring personal & business opportunities!

We have been collaborating closely with Liz Strauss to plan what’’s next. We have also received feedback from many folks about what they want to happen when we all meet in Chicago in June. People have told us how much they truly value working together; both as a large group and through smaller group interactions as well. They appreciate being able to share the challenges and opportunities that are before their businesses. They love being part of a community that has common values & strong bonds.

We are very excited about what’s coming together!

What You Need To Know

1. Dates, Times & Venues

The gathering will be held on June 27 & 28, 2014  from 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM at the Inspire Business Center (in the West Loop)  which is located at 1016 W Jackson Blvd Chicago. On June 29, 2014 – 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM we will meet at Next Door (Lincoln Park neighborhood) which is located at 659 W Diversey Pkwy, Chicago.

2. Working Agenda for the Event

We have been working closely with Liz Strauss to develop an agenda for the event.  Here is an overview of how things are shaping up. Note – this is still a “working agenda”; so things will continue to be updated as we get closer to the event.

On June 27 & 28, 2014 the days will consist of facilitated discussions, small group interactions and moments of insight with the room on a range of topics.  Each topic will be explored in three ways:

  • Facilitated discussion of the topic

  • Interactive quest (a 2-person, 3-person or small group interaction) in which we work together to identify best path and best practices for each of us.

  • Moments of insight shared with the room.

We will also be incorporating some Hot Seat opportunities into each of the days.

Day One – June 27, 2014

8:30 AM – 4:30 PM

Location: Inspire Business Center

Finding Your Genius

Opens with a whole room conversation about goals for the gathering.

Topic 1 – How to tap into the genius that is your key contribution.

Topic 2 – How to identify the genius you need on your team.

Topic 3 – How to claim, convince, and deeply connect with your ideal community.

Ends with small group discussion to list the connections and information we each need to achieve our goals.

Evening Plans – TBA

Day Two – June 28, 2014

8:30 AM – 4:30 PM

Location: Inspire Business Center

Putting Day 1 to Work

Opens with whole room discussion to aggregate the lists of connections and information we need.

​Topic 4 – Multiple how-to sessions pulled from the group list of needs.

Topic 5 – How to share content to attract ideal customers.

Topic 6 – How to get the right people sharing what you do.

Evening Plans – TBA

Day Three – June 29, 2013

9:00 AM – 11:30 AM

Location: Next Door

Several Possibilities

We are currently exploring a number of options for the morning of Day Three. We have several possibilities available to us and are in the process of developing them out. Whatever we finalize, we know it will be truly worthwhile – so we hope you will plan to join us. If you have thoughts about Day Three please feel free to reach out to me via email or direct message.

Lunch Plans – TBA

Important Note: We are still sorting out the logistics related to food/meals for this event.  Unless we otherwise advise you will be responsible for all costs related to coffee/meals etc.  We are exploring options related to this and are hoping to secure some local sponsors.

3. How To Register

There are a limited number of spaces available for this event due to the size of the venues we have secured. As such, we request that you complete the registration process as quickly as possible.

  • Step One: Follow this Paypal link to make a payment of $275.00 to confirm your registration for this event. (Please note: Any funds that you paid for participation in the previous June event have been fully refunded several weeks ago.)
  • Step Two: Complete the Registration Form so that we have your personal information on file for our registration records.

4. Hotel Accommodations

We have not secured a block of hotel rooms for this event so you are responsible to make and pay for your own hotel accommodation if this is necessary. One of the closest hotels to the event venue is the Crowne Plaza Metro. Out of town attendees may wish to register at this hotel. It’s about a 15 minute walk from the Inspire Business Center.

 5. How You Can Help

We expect that we will need some help with a few specific tasks prior to June as well as during the event. If you are interested in assisting with any of this please Jane Boyd. We will reach out to the community as tasks are identified.

Thank you for your ongoing interest and support related to this gathering with Liz Strauss.  We can’t wait to see you in June!

 

Social Media Has the Power to Change Lives

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By Robert Derington

There are many people who need help, and many who set about helping them. In this day and age, social media goes a long way to getting the word out. As a resource it can reach huge numbers of people all across the world, and greatly increase the success of any fund raising that needs to be done. With sites such as Facebook and Twitter, where millions of people can be reached, the potential for achieving goals is raised dramatically.

Social Media has a powerful ability to inform people of worthy causes, based simply on the fact so many people use it. But getting the word out can still be difficult. It takes commitment to see a cause through from first posting to its goal. Constant updates to remind people, sharing and reposting the information all helps keep it in the public awareness. It’s not enough to just state your target, you must keep the impetus going to achieve what you want.

But the power of social media to change lives is not just theoretical. We are currently involved in helping restore a real person’s life. On December 12th, Cireena endured a tragic event. Her apartment caught fire and was burnt out. She lost everything in the fire. It wasn’t just her possessions that were destroyed, but also those things precious to her that she had inherited from her parents. Photos and other items that are literally irreplaceable are gone, as has anything she had hoped to one day pass down to her children.

Cireena escaped the fire with only the clothes she was wearing. In the immediate aftermath, friends and relatives have rallied around her, collecting what they can for her most immediate needs. However, Cireena has been made homeless by the fire, and finds herself living in a homeless shelter for the immediate future.

At this time of great emotional upheaval, the best Cireena can do is think positive. She is grateful she wasn’t harmed in the fire, and still has her health. However, this is not going to help her get her life back on track. Even the strongest people need a little help sometimes, and it was this desire to assist her that resulted in us deciding to use Social Media to highlight her cause.

Social media is the surest way we could think of to not only raise funds but also raise awareness. Even though there are support agencies that can help, these can take time, and will not provide everything that is needed. Getting the word out via Facebook and Twitter, as well as through any other form of mass communication, increases the chance of success in the fundraising arena, as it draws attention to these issues, and people to the website.

It can be hard knowing which issue is worthy of your donation. That must be a personal choice. But if you have a few spare dollars, I urge you to look through your favourite social media sites. You are sure to find a cause that inspires you to click the “donate” button.

As you do your search, please keep an eye out for “Cireena’s House Fire Fund”, and consider a donation. Anything you give will go a long way to helping someone keep smiling.

Author’s Bio: Robert Derington is the Manager of Mosaic Magazine, the Writer’s Magazine online.

Blogging Conference Guide for 2014

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By Jessy Troy

Bloggers unite! The year 2014 is going to be a huge one for conferences where we can all get together, learn about current trends, improve marketing results, boost content and make plenty of valuable friends along the way.

Some of the events going on are truly exciting, as they are some of the biggest series around. If you are planning on attending any conferences within the next twelve months, here are some you should really consider.

1. SOBCon Chicago 2014

SOBCon Chicago 2014

SOBCon comes back stronger in 2014! Please read the official updates here. Even though the event in Portland was canceled, we will all be looking forward to Chicago SOBCon this year!

To be updated on the details, speakers and official venue, please subscribe to the newsletter!

2. Content Marketing World

Content Marketing World

Content Marketing Institute is one of the most popular marketing sites on the web. Their annual conference is huge, and a huge boost for any career to be seen speaking there. The speaker proposal deadline has passed, but it’s still a great place to network!

Where and When: Cleveland, Ohio. The Conference is September 8-11th, 2014.

3. BlogHer

BlogHer

For the women bloggers out there, you can attend a conference aimed directly at you and the special considerations to females in the blogosphere. Founded in 2005 by Elisa Camahort Page, Jory Des Jardins and Lisa Stone, BlogHer is a great site for educating, spreading awareness and assisting women online in their content and marketing.

Their annual event is always very informative and a lot of fun. Sign up early, because these tickets sell very fast. Also check out Pathfinder, the pre-conference set of workshops only open to a few hundred attendees on a first come, first serve basis. Tickets are on sale now.

Where and When: Thursday, July 24, 2014 at 8:00 AM – Saturday, July 26, 2014 at 11:00 PM (PDT) in
San Jose, CA

4. Now What?

Now What?

Still rather new on the conference circuit, Now What is still managing to attract a lot of attention from industry leaders and members of the public alike. Focused on web content, management and marketing, it is a great opportunity to keep up with the latest trends in the market. All while having plenty of chances to network with others and meet with representatives from dozens of well known brands in the expo hall. They are currently accepting submissions for speakers and workshops.

Where and When: Sioux Falls, South Dakota – Washington Pavilion in
April 23-24, 2014. The official venue hasn’t been announced yet.

5. Lifestyle Bloggers Conference

Lifestyle Bloggers Conference

For the fourth year in a row, Lifestyle Bloggers Conference is coming to Los Angeles. Aimed at female and Latina bloggers in particular, it is a great chance to learn about how social media is changing the face of blogs through greater community interaction.

There will be three keynotes, two sponsored lunches, a tour behind the scenes of LA Mart, and various panels and workshops. Unlike many other conferences, this one tries to cover all topics relevant to bloggers, from copyright law to SEO. If you want a well rounded conference targeted at women, you will love this event.

Where and When: March 27-29. 2014 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM (PDT), Los Angeles, CA. Be sure to book a hotel closer to the venue which is Cooper Design Place this time. One of the sites that has a convenient search and a huge database is LosAngelesHotels.

6. Design Bloggers Conference

Design Bloggers Conference

A great place to meet other designers, Design Bloggers Conference has the distinction of being just as much about inspiring creativity as it does learning about an industry. This time they will have two keynotes at the two day event: Jeffrey Alan Marks and Candice Olson. There will also be a fantastic expo there you won’t want to miss, held by the dozens of sponsors who will be showing off the latest in interior design products and ideas.

Where and When: This year the conference will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, 3300 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, Georgia, March 2-4.

Why Should I Attend A Blogger Conference?

This is a common question, and an understandable one. When your work is primarily done online, and social media becomes the backbone of that work, it is easy to forget how important one on one interaction can be. Sure, you can learn a lot of what is offered online during webinars or posted presentations. But you lose the human element.

Meeting up face to face with other bloggers is a great way to forge lasting working relationships. Not to mention it is a fun and exciting way to spark innovation, collaborate on project ideas, and just get away from the computer for a couple of days.

It also lets you interact more directly with experts and industry leaders in a way that leaves a lasting impression. You know you are more likely to remember someone you speak with over drinks than someone you tweet back and forth to.

Conclusion

When you work online it can be easy to forget to leave the web behind and really speak to others. These conferences are a great reminder that will have some serious benefits along the way.

Jessy Troy is the self-made marketer blogging at Viral Mom, the established blog for WAHMs. You can follow Jessy on Twitter as @jessytroy.

You’re Only A Stranger Once

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The tagline for this blog jumped off the site at me the other day.

Liz says, “you’re only a stranger once.”

You're only a stranger once

The first time you encounter someone, whether it’s online or offline, you have a lifetime of possibilities floating between you. There’s no messy experience to muddy the waters, no shared history. As strangers, you are just two molecules floating around.

Kaboom.

The molecules collide.

Now the possibilities start to develop.

Will you share a laugh in your first meeting? Will the other person say something that violates your personal code, and immediately cut off the possibilities? Will you decide to have a second experience together?

I recently had the great pleasure to welcome a new customer who arrived via a two year long, circuitous series of molecular collisions both in real life (at conferences) and online. And the most wonderful thing is that, when each of the encounters took place, neither one of us had an “endgame” or “agenda” in mind, other than being open to meeting new people.

If you’re open to the possibilities, then the happy accidents can happen. And they happen more frequently, the more you put yourself out there. Magically, the byproduct of this open intention is that you can become a “super-collider.”

The beautiful tagline at the top of this page means something. Whether it’s your first comment, your first submission of a guest post, your first time attending a SOBCon event, your first time reading this blog, you’re only a stranger once.

Everything after that is possibilities.

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work for on the Internet . Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Photo Credit: pshab via Compfight cc

Innovation. Ownership. Collaboration.

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By Sherrie Rohde

It seems that lately the words innovation, ownership and collaboration are cycling through my daily thought process and conversations at a rate that I can barely keep up with.

Innovation

Innovation is our starting place. With social media we’ve created an outlet for emphasizing every disaster, whether it’s a true world catastrophe or lapse in judgment. Instead of looking at the world with this emphasis of pain and failure, let’s look at it through the lens of “How can we make this a better place?” I’m not saying those problems aren’t real, but it’s time we step up and take ownership to be part of the solution.

Ownership

It’s a bit difficult to separate innovation and ownership, but taking innovation to action requires owning the problem and the idea with a commitment to work towards a solution.

The world would look drastically different if we spent more time identifying a problem to own, rather than fighting for more space, more time, or more money in our own little part of the world.
—Lara Galinsky, Harvard Business Review

When we have a sense of ownership, we take pride in that thing we have owned, whether it be an idea or a project or a community. I recently made the decision to identify what I’m passionate about and to learn to say no to projects that didn’t fall under that umbrella. Not only did it make life far less stressful, but it also made it easy to focus on those problems I did choose to own.

Collaboration

There comes a point where we realize that despite our aspiration for innovation and ownership of the problem, we can’t do it by ourselves. And why should we? When we connect with the right people, those whose goals are aligned with ours, our force is stronger and our reach is further.

Let’s work together to make a difference.

Identify a problem to innovate. Take ownership. Collaborate for impact.

Solve big problems.

Author’s Bio: Sherrie Rohde writes about community management at mycmgr.com. She is passionate about community innovation in the tech space with an emphasis on user experience and e-commerce. Sherrie loves learning and is energized by helping others succeed. Recently she’s collaborated with Jennifer Shaw to solve the big problem of tech education for rural women in America through bellaminds.com. You can connect with her on Twitter as @sherrierohde or Google+.

Why working for charity is not your average day job

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By Sophie Ponting

It’s not every job that offers you the satisfaction of knowing that the hard work you put in every day is making a real difference to those less fortunate than yourself, but that’s the feeling that comes with working for a charity. Whether it’s as a fundraiser, administrator, or even marketing for a charity, the opportunities for work in your particular area of expertise whilst sticking to your moral values are endless.

According to the UK Charity Commission there are 180,000 registered charities in England and Wales alone, and while many of the workers at these charities carry out their duties as volunteers, there are also quite a number of reasonably well paid charity jobs on offer at many of the larger organisations.

Here we’ll take a quick look at some of the pros of working for a charity

  • Improve the quality of life of those that need it most
  • Contribute something worthwhile to the community
  • Tremendous job satisfaction in seeing the results of your work
  • Work in a not for profit organisation setting you apart from more money oriented workplaces
  • Gain valuable experience as a graduate – pro bono internships are regularly on offer at many charities

Job diversity is also a key factor for many that choose to pursue charity jobs and here are a couple of the areas within your everyday charity with many job opportunities.

Fundraising

The role of fundraiser is one of the most important roles within any charity. They are quite often seen as the public face of the charity and their duties are quite extensive and can cover anything from organising traditional street collections to liaising with major businesses to encourage corporate donations.

Marketing

Marketing is where many businesses fail and charities are no different. Raising public awareness of a charity is key to its survival and a good marketing department is essential. With marketing being such a large component of a successful charity there are many roles available such as campaign managers, press officers, and brand managers, to name but a few.

If a change in career is something you are considering, then taking a step into the world of charity work could be the most rewarding career choice you will ever make. With vacancies that are numerous and varied, and a level of job satisfaction that is second to none, it’s easy to see why working for a charity is not like your average day job.

Author’s Bio: Sophie Ponting is a keen volunteer for a well known UK charity as a hobby and is interested in helping out others and fundraising events. Her original interest in this came due to her association with TPP Not For Profit – UK Charity Recruiters, where she is based in London.