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On Connecting: Friends, Ideas, and Words

May 17, 2007 by Liz

I've been thinking . . .

It seems like everyone, it’s not, but it seems so. People tell me I’m a connector. That’s a good thing. Some folks offer that observation with some awe.

I see the outcomes they see that happen because of me. For them, that’s the end. For me that’s a point on a continuous timeline. I see the before and the after. I know the future of where such things go. It’s a curious thing that has been with me all of my life.

It’s the same with the people.
It’s the same with the ideas.
It’s the same with the words.

When I meet new people, unique and intriguing — as they all are. My mind finds their mind; my heart finds their heart; my hand finds their hand. We become friends. It transcends understanding because of the unconditional part. A contract is made that true friends carry tacitly.

Maybe that’s why, even now, I don’t understand, the concept of “best friend.” I don’t have a best sentence, though I’ve written many musical, meaninful ones. How could I choose one as the “best”? It would seem even more wrong to do so with people. People are so valuable, each alone. No comparison to be made there.

As with words and ideas. I find people with whom my friends make grand ideas, laughter, music, and color. I’m not sure how I know they will. Maybe it’s the size of their hearts, maybe it’s their hearts and brains working together. Either way, they sure enough do. They find each other and become living art. I watch. They smile. They talk. They become part of each other’s life.

I opened a door. They walked through. To get the credit for that is like getting the credit for making a flower bloom.

Friends, ideas, and words — the answer is always to let them be, let them go. Enjoy what they do.

Like these words, my friends stand on their own. They are not me, except for that part they will always take along.

Liz's Signature

Filed Under: Motivation Tagged With: bc, Ive-been-thinking, lifelong-friends

Dear Jim, Stephanie, and the Entire Sofitel OHare Chicago,

May 16, 2007 by Liz

Dear Jim,Stephanie and the entire staff at the Sofitel OHare Chicago,
We’re just five regular people who wanted to have a small convention at your luxury hotel. It was for a bunch of spectacular individuals who do amazing things as part of their daily workload.

Chicago OHare Sofitel

You know the type. I know. I’ve watched you in action, and as one of my friends and colleagues from Montreal would say, “Wow!”

It was minutes within the arrival of the first guest that I heard the compliments to the hotel’s service. I’m still hearing them days since I’ve left. Every small problem was made even smaller. Every person was a delight to work with. What a pleasure you made our visit for the people who came to have what many are calling “the experience of their life.”

The food, the service, the attention, the facillities were elegant and of the highest quality in every respect. It was nice to have a truly quiet room to return to.

Thank you, sincerely.

Liz's Signature

Liz Strauss

cc: Lisa, Chris, Terry, Mike

Filed Under: Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Converstations, Ramblings-From-A-Glass-Half-Full, Sofitel-Ohare-Chicago, Success-CREEations

We Talked about Being Home, Sweet, Home

May 16, 2007 by Liz

Be It Ever SO Humble

Yep we’re back and with our very own pillows . . . even if it’s only for a moment. We know how important having a place to call our own is. Gosh it’s great to have one. Though many of us were gone to Chicago for the weekend or to other places, we sure had lots of reasons to be glad to be in our own spaces.

It was a busy night. We were talking about being home.

You can read all about it in the The Mic Is On: We’re Happy to Be Home comments.

Here are some cool links we shared.

  • The face behind the blog
  • Home is Where I am Lord and Master…Over My Cat
  • A Special Blog Birthday
  • Maidstone
  • A Tale of Endless Commutitng
  • Portland Maps
  • The Tri-Met
  • choc ices
  • Joe’s New Business Card
  • Rules for Being Human or Equine?
  • The Best Mom Awards
  • HBMSC Partiies in Pictures
  • Mother’s Day in Customer Service

Thanks to everyone for the cool links and for being part of the conversation.

See you next Tuesday? I sure hope so.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

What is Tuesday Open Comment Night?

WANT TO GUEST HOST AN OPEN COMMENT NIGHT WITH ME? PICK A THEME AND TELL ME ABOUT IT. C’MON IT’LL BE FUN!

Filed Under: Blog Comments, Community, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, blog_promotion, discussion, letting_off_steam, living-social-media, Open_Comment_Night

About that Word, Brand, that Keeps Coming Up

May 16, 2007 by Liz

As I Get Down from my Ladder

Personal Branding logo

As I took down the “register now” button for SOBCon 07, I pondered posts on the event that we all made our own last weekend. I was struck by how often in the blog posts that followed that the single word, brand, and it cousins mission, passion, and purpose were mentioned.

Two thoughts keep tap, tap, tapping me on the shoulder.

Branding is knowing who I am.

  • What drives me, gets me jazzed, makes me feel alive and unaware of myself??
  • What do I talk about when I can talk about anything?
  • Who am I to new friends who greet me with arms and hearts held wide open?
  • What twist on an old idea makes it new and exciting enough for me to explore and what to share?
  • Who do I like them to see when they look at me? That’s the brand that I strive for, the brand that explains me. Steve Farber would call that frequency.

Finding my brand is knowing who I as a person.

A new brand was formed — the SOBCon Brand. The promise was an experience unlike others. The participants made that brand happen. You can hear them explaining it.

  • Participanats had hands to shake, smiles to share, voices to hear. And the ideas that were shared came from all of us.
  • Pariticpants were the center.
  • A new conversation was started each time two people began to talk.
  • People were quick to help each other, to be involved in finding out more. It was the pariticpation and the interaction.
  • Like-minded people enjoy being the same as much as we enjoy our differences.

In this case the brand formed around thinkers, business folks, dreamers, and as Jeff Brown, the Bawld Guy, would say, “the Kumbaya singers.”

This time we seem to have also found a brand family.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Related
Finding Your Frequency in Business and in Life
See the Successful Series page Brand You Series.

Filed Under: Successful Blog Tagged With: BawldGuyTalking, bc, Finding-your-frequency, live-your-brand, personal-branding, SteveFarber

The Mic Is On: We’re Happy to be Home . . .

May 15, 2007 by Liz

It’s Like Open Mic Only Different

The Mic Is On

Here’s how it works.

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.
The rules are simple — be nice.

There are always first timers and new things to talk about. It’s sort of half “Cheers” part “Friends” and part video game. You don’t know how much fun it is until you try it.

Let’s Talk About the Joys of Being Home!

home-at-last2.JPG

What do we miss when we’re away . . . and how do we feel when we “get back home.” What makes it “home”?

Here’s a few ideas to get us started:

  • our own house, apt, condo
  • our own bed, alarm clock
  • our own chair
  • our own kitchen, cooking
  • our own bathroom, bathtub, shower, hot tub
  • our own family, friends, pets
  • our own back yard, deck
  • our own computer, telephone, TV
  • our own car, transportation
  • our own routine

And, whatever else comes up, including THE EVER POPULAR, Basil the code-writing donkey.

Oh, and bring a link, if you have one to share.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related article
What is Tuesday Open Comment Night?

Filed Under: Blog Comments, Community, Links, Marketing /Sales / Social Media, Outside the Box, SOB Business, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, blog_promotion, discussion, letting_off_steam, living-social-media, Open_Comment_Night

Open Mic 7pm Chgo Time: Let’s Talk About Home!

May 15, 2007 by Liz

Yes the Mic Will Be on Tonight

Join Us Tonight

We’re Talking about the Joys of Being Home!

We can talk about how we feel when we get back home . . . our own house, computer, back yard, bed, bathroom, kitchen, family, car, alarm clock, food, and anything else that comes up.

Oh, and bring a link about home to share, if you have one.

The rules are simple — be nice.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related article
What is Tuesday Open Comment Night?

Filed Under: SOB Business, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, blog_promotion, discussion, letting_off_steam, living-social-media, Open_Comment_Night

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