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What Do You Want to Be When . . . um, IF . . . You Grow Up?

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Even the Humblest Star Still Shines

Shine!

Just a few words, a reminder, that we’re all meant to be brilliant.

In honor of Take Your Sons and Daughters to Work Day Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, April 24th, the Business Channel at b5 media is asking our readers a simple but elegant question.

What Do You Want to Be When . . . um, IF . . . You Grow Up?

The rules are these.

  • Post a comment here before 11:59 EST — that’s 10:59 on the clock on this blog.
  • Include your full name and your email address in the comment form. No worries. No one will spam you or send other unsightly things from the comment you leave.
  • Enter as many unique comments as you like.
  • Your entry asserts you agree that b5media may post part or all of your comment entry, including your name, as a part of the contest announcements or promotions, except your email address.
  • Your entry declares that all works submitted to the contest on your behalf are original and belong to you or that you have the right to submit those works.
  • All decisions related to finalists are in the sole discretion of the judge and are final.

Enough rules.

The comedienne Paula Poundstone used to say that the reason grownups asked kids what they wanted to be was that grownups are looking for ideas.

So I repeat the question . . .

What Do You Want to Be When . . . um, IF . . .You Grow Up?

Write your comment here and you will be entered to win a gift card to Barnes and Noble for $25. Even if you don’t win, I’d really like to know.

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SOBCon08 on FuelMyBlog TV!!

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Paul Gives Great Interview!

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This morning I had the pleasure of sharing a conversation with Paul O’Flaherty on FuelMyBlogTV. Kevin Dixie, CEO of Fuel, was also there, monitoring the chat room. FuelMyBlog is sponsoring a meetup in Chicago the night before SOBCon08 and will be capturing the attendees in video interviews while the conference is on. During the show this morning, Paul also mentioned other havoc they plan for the Windy City. [They’ll arriving in Chicago from France and Denmark on Wednesday, April 30th.]

Paul had plenty of great questions about what’s happening at SOBCon08.

Take a peek!

Thanks, Paul and Kevin! Can’t wait to see you!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!! SOBCon08 is May 2,3,4 in Chicago. Register now!

Reviewing the Internets in Our Heads

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Thinking about What We Think

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As I sat down at my computer, I looked over at a teacher’s guide for a writing program that I worked on a few years ago. It was open on my desk to page with of teaching tips. One section was called Using Internet Resources. In the introductory paragraph it said,

Explain to students that the Internet does not undergo the same kind of scrutiny and review process that books and professional publications do. Voyages in English, Grade 6, p. 147

That sentence got me thinking about how we think. The information highways of our brains process ideas, thoughts, and concepts at incredible speed. Those messages transmit efficiently, but our “scrutiny and review process” has only our own context and experience to determine whether the information is flawed or faulty, incomplete, biased, or inaccurate.

As a source, we can be woefully limited, inexperienced, or out of date.

How do I know what I think I know?
Am I doing this out of habit or is it what the situation requires?
How did I form my opinion about that person?
What makes me think that I’ll never be good at doing that?
Am I sure that what I know from the past is still true?

How do you review the information on the Internet in your head?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Stuck? Work with Liz!!
SOBCon08 is May 2,3,4 in Chicago. Register now!

An Incredible Opportunity for Food and Restaurant Bloggers

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Press Credentials to the Restaurant Show!

Serious bloggers who can write about food and beverages, kitchen equipment, cooking techniques, or the restaurant and hospitality industry in general, the National Restaurant Association is looking for you!

National Restaurant Show 2008 (May 17-20) and International Wine, Spirits, & Beer Event (May 19-20) will be at McCormick Place in Chicago. More new products and services for restaurants and hospitality businesses are launched at these two shows than anywhere else! It’s sure to be the most blog-worthy restaurant-related source of information this year!

Cover the latest in technology. Interview celebrity chefs. Explore the hottest trends in food and beverages.

And here’s what’s cool . . .

If you have a news-centered blog focused on the restaurant universe, you could get PRESS access as a journalist. Here’s how:

Send an email with a link from your blog to media@restaurant.org to see whether you qualify.

Or just blog the show for fun from the Show Web site (www.restaurant.org.show).

–ME “Liz” Strauss

WordCampDallas Business Panel

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An Exceptional Experience

I’m not a fan of panels as presentation format. I’ve been on them and attended them, and in both roles, I’ve found that the experience is often less than it might have been with a well-prepared speaker. Still I was honored when I was invited to join the business blogging panel at WordCampDallas 2008.

Had I know John Pozadzides before that event, I might have known this panel would be an exception.

The original panel was to be Aaron Brazell, Mark Ghosh, and Liz Strauss — that’s me. What fun when the panel started and Matt Mullenweg came up to sit down along with us in the big chairs at the Frisco City Hall.

The rest is history. John moderated the panel as well as any television host. He played devil’s advocate to get the discussion going. He was sure to connect the thoughts from one question to the next so that the discussion went well beyond the surface chat of most panel discussions.

Watch the video. Even if you don’t blog for business, seeing a panel this well done is an exceptional experience.

Thank you, John P.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
SOBCon08 is May 2,3,4 in Chicago. Register now!

Writing, Words, and People We Have Known

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I've been thinking . . .

about writing, words, and people.

When I write I am alone. No one can help. Every word needs to find its way from inside me. Yet. . . .

Every word comes touched, moved, expanded by the people I have met, interacted with, and loved. Those who have been in my life are inside, around, and through everything I write. They are present even in those bits I think are only about me.

I see every person I have ever known. All I’ve learned is in every word.

I cannot write today’s thoughts without revealing yesterday’s history.

The meanings of our words reflect the people we have known.

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