Nancy Lyons

Product Review: Corel Digital Studio

Posted on February 8, 2010

Hi, we’re the Geek Girls and we’re Macs. But, hey — we know that 90% of the rest of the world are PCs and we love all our friends, regardless of platform. We recently received a copy of Corel Digital Studio to review (and a copy to give away!) so we dusted off our PC and checked it out for you.

Interface

This little suite ended up surprising us a quite a bit! At first glance (and during installation), it seemed a bit overwhelming, but once you really get into the program it becomes easy to use and navigate.

Features

Digital Studio includes a photo editor, video editor, burning element, and media player, all of which are easily accessed via a Desktop Widget. The widget proves to be very helpful when working on projects requiring all of those features, or just a little bit of a lot of functionality.

Photos

Grabbing and editing photos with Corel Digital Studio is surprisingly easy. You have the ability to import from a variety of sources including your computer, camera, mobile phone, webcam, scanner, and other devices (like an external hard drive).   Once your photos have been imported, you can create albums and projects like a photobook, a greeting card, a crafty collage, a handy calendar, a family slideshow, or a backup disc. Finally, you can share your photo projects via email, Facebook, Flickr, or YouTube right from the interface.

We liked the templates that allowed us to quickly and easily make a family album or fun and totally personalized greeting card. With Valentine’s Day right around the corner – Corel Digital Studio is a great way to give your loved ones what they really want – something thoughtful and from the heart.

Video:

Your videos work much the same way. Just like photos, you can import video from a variety of sources including, your computer, a video disc, camera, mobile phone, webcam, TV tuner/capture card, a tape-camcorder, internal memory-camcorder, or other (like an external drive).   Once you import a video, you’ve started your video project. It’s easy getting started with the pre-existing video backgrounds and themes. We used one to make the test video below. After you create your movie you can export it into a number of file types, all of which come with a great description of the best place to put the files when you’re done (if you’re not file savvy this is a very helpful piece of information).   Once you have your file saved you can share share it in a variety of ways, put it on YouTube, send via email, save it on your local drive, drop it on Facebook or Flickr (it’s not just for photos anymore). The one function during the save/share process that we weren’t so enamored with was selecting where to save your file. The user experience around this feature was just a little awkward. But we managed.

Summary

For the most part we were impressed with Corel Digital Studio. Mostly because it is perfect for our audience. The interface is intuitive and easily navigable by folks who don’t spend their whole lives playing with video. If you’re looking to add a lot of special effects, or you have really specific editing requirements this little program might be too simple for you. But if you want to jump right in and start using your photos and videos in new and creative ways and share them with friends and family then Corel Digital Studio is for you!

Giveaway

The nice people at Corel gave us a spare copy that we can give away. Drop us a line in the comments and tell us why you should get it and we’ll pick a winner using Random.org. And because we want you to feel the love, the cut off for the drawing is Valentine’s Day (02/14/10) at noon CST. So comment now and comment often.

Here’s a sample video we created in just minutes:

UPDATE:

Contest is over and #6 is our winner. Jon – send us an email to claim your prize.

Just Because You Can Doesn’t Mean You Should

Posted on January 29, 2010

With the proliferation and popularity of social media, like Twitter, its easy to forget how powerful a single voice can be. And yet, like a match, a single voice can spark a raging blaze, perhaps without ever really intending to do it. As individuals, we often think that when we speak we’re only heard by our immediate audience. Why edit your content when there’s so little impact? But with social media, that’s not really how it works. And the immediacy of social – the instant ability to publish an issue to a very broad audience – just complicates the dynamic. We edit less. The Geek Girls like to remind folks that fact and fiction or good news and bad news travel at the same speeds in the digital realm. And, let’s face it, as humans, we’re probably more likely to complain out loud than we are to share stories about good experiences. Especially when it comes to consumer or brand or service experiences. It’s true. We have expectations around service. When our experience with a brand comes off without a hitch, we probably don’t say much. Because we expected it. But if we have a less than easy encounter with a service provider, we are usually more prone to complain. And we’ll complain to anyone in the immediate vicinity. Only now, the immediate vicinity includes the web – Twitter and Facebook and wherever your profile may live. Don’t deny it. You know I’m right. You do it. But here’s a radical idea – I’d like to suggest that you pause for some reasonable amount of time before transcribing and publishing your knee jerk reaction to an unpleasant encounter. Because giving it a little bit of time just might be the right thing to do.

I subscribe to cable and home internet services through the cable company and, for the most part, other than the occasional grumble about the high price of cable television, I rarely have a complaint about Comcast. You may or may not be aware that recently Comcast decided to go entirely digital, which requires that all televisions without set-top control boxes get an additional adapter to receive the all-digital signal. Comcast informed subscribers via snail mail with a letter that provided instructions around how to order the adapters. We were given two options – logging into a website and providing a unique identifier and ordering the adapters, or calling a customer service line and speaking to a representative. Being someone who practically lives online the web option was my obvious choice. I headed straight for the website, filled out the required fields and provided my ID number, only to be met with an error message stating that the site was unable to process my request at that time. I tried again, same result. One last time, still an error message. My initial reaction was one of frustration. Don’t send letters out with website information that does not work! I considered, for a split second, tweeting my frustration. I even pulled up Tweetdeck for that very reason. Then I had a moment of calm and decided to just pick up the phone and call Comcast for my adapters. The next day I did exactly that, and you know what happened? I talked to a delightful human who was beyond helpful and friendly. My customer service experience with Comcast was, ultimately, perfect. I got all the information I needed. The rep was friendly, warm, available, and efficient. She made it so easy. I got my adapters by mail just four short days later. Done.

It would have been so easy for me to tweet my bitterness. To be honest, I’m not sure what stopped me. But now, in retrospect, I’m glad I didn’t do it. Because I realized something as a result of that series of seemingly meaningless events. I realized that I have some responsibility in all of my brand and service interactions. Because behind every website and call center and brand promise are people. We can automate every single transaction. But it doesn’t take away from the need for humanity in our relationships with these brands. Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s perfectly ok to expect good and reliable products and services from the brand in whom we place our trust. But there’s a difference between expecting quality and feeling entitled to instant gratification. The web has sort of muddied these waters and as more and more of us recognize the power that the individual has in the world of consumer relationships, its hard not to have really high, even entitled, expectations.

I think many of us have by now heard the story of Famous Mom Blogger Heather Armstrong’s dealings with Maytag. In her case it seems clear that she attempted to resolve the situation via traditional channels before she resorted to inciting the masses following her on Twitter to take up her cause. But it does illustrate just how powerful these channels can be. No, not all of us are Dooce. But by tapping into the power of social media we all have access to much broader and much more distributed networks of people. The potential for reputation damage goes far beyond your immediate gripe over the fence in the backyard.

Those of us in the service business are generally just trying to do good and honest work. The problem with being human is, sometimes you just fall down. As consumers of goods and services AND social media I’d like to see us all practice a little humanity and recognize our own responsibility in all of our relationships. In my case, I just picked up the phone. It was really that simple. A little patience and effort on my part was rewarded with exactly what I should have expected — excellent service.

Podcast #7: Social Media & Personal Safety

Posted on January 8, 2010

For our seventh podcast we invited Geek Girls Guide reader Alexis Bell over to talk about some concerns her family members had with her jumping into the world of social media.

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Recap

Alexis (@alexisjbell) sent us an email and said:

“My parents have become very concerned that on my Twitter account I have my picture and my real name. One night I tweeted that I was going to the MIMA holiday party and that concerned them because A) someone could rob me knowing that my house is unoccupied or B) stalk me. I realize their concerns are real and that they are just worried about me but I haven’t figured out how to ease their minds yet.

So I guess my question has to do with personal safety and security while posting information about what you are doing and where you are going. With Facebook I know who everyone is ‘In Real Life’, but with Twitter I don’t yet know any of these people. Some I’m hoping to know/meet in the future with regards to social media and web design. I know that approving everyone that follows you is an option but I don’t see that as a solution if I’m trying to get into social media.”

We talked about:

Generational differences between what we are used to sharing, and having public
- Related: We all live in public now. Get used to it. – by Erick Schonfeld on TechCrunch
The insidious danger of danger – a brilliant post by Tara Hunt (@missrogue)
Sharing information sensibly; be aware of what you’re sharing in any network you’re participating in.
Ways to demonstrate why it’s important for a modern professional to be creating content about themselves that is indexed by search engines.

The bottom line in this whole conversation is that it would be a mistake to miss out on the personal and professional opportunities to connect with people in social channels out of fear. Be smart, but don’t be afraid.

Join in the Discussion

What do you think? Are you avoiding social media because you’re concerned about safety or do you brazenly share all?

Remembering The Golden Rule

Posted on January 5, 2010

Everyone learns the Golden Rule at some point in their childhood. You know it – treat others the way you’d want to be treated. Or, simply put, treat people with consideration. It’s one of those basic human values that is shared by Christians, Buddhists, Muslims and Humanists. The Golden Rule is one of ethics and humanity, more than anything else. We need to choose, every day, to be decent to one another. And, surprisingly, it’s not always so easy to do. Being human is just hard. These days, with business and information moving at the speed of sound, and everyone trying to keep up with the Joneses or bubble up or be remarkable or be a ‘thought leader’ humanity takes even more of a back seat. Most of the time, that’s really not the intent. Social Media can be a channel for self promotion. And when we’re too self-focused we lose site of each other and, by extension, we lose sight of that Golden Rule.

Over the holiday my house was bustling with family and festivities. My sister (who has no idea I’m using her for this post and hopefully she won’t care) stayed with us to celebrate Christmas. We were busy – a big family gathering on Christmas Eve. Friends in town and staying over with us for Christmas morning. My three-year-old was enjoying the first Christmas where he really embraced the magic of Santa Claus. The last thing I was thinking about was what sorts of images of me might end up on the Internet. I was wrapping up work, and cleaning my house, and preparing hor d’oeuvres and doing last minute shopping and, you name it – it was on my list. By the time Christmas morning rolled around I was breathing a sigh of relief at the prospect of a nap. Now, I don’t know about you, but I do not sleep in what one would refer to as high fashion. In fact, I’ll admit it, my night-time wardrobe has been sorely neglected over the years and most every morning, when I come plodding out of my bedroom sporting a brilliant case of bedhead and some misguided combination of sweatpants and a t-shirt, I look positively homeless. Christmas morning was no exception. I played spectator to my son and the Christmas motherlode. I completely missed the fact that I was a passive participant in a series of photographs capturing his excitement. There I was looking like a bloated, homeless whale – laying on the couch or curled up on the floor or all contorted for some crazy task with ‘some assembly required’. My sister, whom I adore, was capturing every precious moment of my baby’s magical morning. Unfortunately, my butt was the backdrop for a good number of those moments and I had no idea. No idea, that is, until my butt showed up on Facebook.

Facebook, the basement-home-movies-and-instantaneous-scrapbook all rolled into one. Instead of inviting your friends over to bore them with your latest adventure as you project your vacation slides on your paneled rec-room wall, just share your family fun on Facebook and they can comment and ‘Like’ your life from anywhere, right this instant, and forever. Somewhere between brunch and my long winter’s nap on Christmas Day I logged into Facebook to kill some time and was immediately notified that my sister had posted some pictures. My heart raced as I quickly reviewed her recently uploaded collection. Granted, I wasn’t the focal point of any of those photos. But, it could not be denied, that there I was, looking about as comfortable and unkempt as a person ever should, right smack dap in the middle of my sister’s ‘wall’. I thought very seriously about the correct response to this issue. On the one hand, they were not my pictures and my sister can take and post whatever she wants on her Facebook page. But on the other hand, about 25 of her friends are my ‘friends’ and I wasn’t entirely comfortable with anyone, save my immediate family, seeing me in such a state. It’s an interesting dilemma when you think about it. Social Media only works when the intent and the content is authentic. One could argue that my desire to remove pictures of myself looking terrifying is not exactly authentic. But I also need to feel safe in my own house. I need to know I can roam around in my underwear and not have to worry about it showing up on the world wide web by nightfall. Who is deciding how these things work? We are. And, quite honestly, there’s nothing all that digital or ‘new’ about it. When thinking about how best to be ‘social’ in the Social Media sphere, remember the Golden Rule. Treat others the way you would like to be treated. Show them some consideration.

Now, I’m not suggesting my sis had any ill intentions in posting those photos. I think she simply wanted to share the images of her sweet nephew’s holiday excitement. But without my consent, or prior review, she was sharing much more than that. You see the moral dilemma? What right did I have to ask her to edit what she wanted to share with her network? The problem was, once the content was tagged, it was shareable outside of her network. And I have no idea what her privacy settings look like. Bottom line – I was not comfortable with it. It wasn’t about oversharing – it was about my level of comfort with what was being shared. The Geek Girls have said time and time again, behind every picture is the human that took it and posted it. If you don’t like the picture talk to the human. I mean, come on. In this new era of immediacy in communication – we have to all commit to being reasonable when publishing content to what is really a GLOBAL network. But I say we should go a step further and, as creators of content, we need to apply the Golden Rule. We need to be sensitive to and considerate of others first. Ask before you post if there is anything that could be even slightly compromising. I don’t think that asking for a little kindness is really asking for all that much. In fact, that is exactly what I asked of my sister — I asked her to be kind to me in re-reviewing those pictures. In the end, she was more than kind and for that I am grateful.

Go ahead – post your pictures, share your videos – put it all out there. But before you hit ‘submit’ – remember the moral of this story – remember the Golden Rule. Be kind to each other.

Podcast #4: MPR Technology Follow Up

Posted on December 8, 2009

I had the pleasure of talking to Kerri Miller on the Midmorning show on MPR this morning. (You can listen to the show here.) Her guest was Robert Stephens and I was a call-in guest for a short part of the hour. It is so hard to even try to touch technology in an hour’s worth of time. It’s even harder to speak to the cultural impact of technology in short bytes. We try to do all of that here on the Geek Girl’s Guide. But we try to do it in a way that encourages very broad participation. We want to open this up to audiences that may not normally be included in a conversation about technology. Of course when I finished the interview my head was spinning. The only logical thing to do was to keep talking to Meghan about the ideas we’d only touched on in the on-air chat. Here’s the resulting podcast. Enjoy!

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Giving Thanks In National Adoption Month

Posted on November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving sends us all through the same exercise – we think about those things for which we are most thankful. Generally, the first thing that comes to mind is one’s family. Families are a great gift and the people that make home feel like home. November is also National Adoption Month so it seems only logical that I should share with you my story – the one in which I was lucky enough to create what is now my family with more than a little help from technology and early social media. Just maybe what I share here will be of some help or comfort to someone who may stumble upon this post and find in it a little nugget of hope when they need it most.

Adoption is a very personal decision. I think those people on the outside of it make assumptions about why people decide to adopt. But those assumptions are generally a pretty narrow view of reality. In truth, some people just know that adoption is the path for them. I have always been one of those people. I always knew I’d be a parent, but I never felt any sort of compelling urge to give birth. Adoption is one of those subjects that exists in the periphery of cultural consciousness until you decide that you want to pursue it. Once you are serious about becoming a parent via adoption, a whole subculture starts to reveal itself to you. But not without a pretty significant amount of investigation. Thankfully, when I began my journey, I was already very familiar with the internet. Unfortunately, the adoption industry had not yet caught up to technology and was slow to adopt new channels of communication. At the time I started I was able to research adoption agencies through newsgroups. (Remember those? Newsgroups?) I’d hear about one, and then I’d search various adoption newsgroups for people with experience with the agency. Then I’d make contact with those people and, if it made sense, follow up with contact with the agency itself. Let’s put this in context, I started this process over 9 years ago and it took me six years to find my son. The web was still a less than effective way to really find and connect with resources in a way that really moved the process forward. But for me it was a little different. I was a blogger.

When we talk about Social Media, the Geek Girls try to point out the value of blogs and bloggers as community builders and mechanisms for two-way dialogue. In a world where Facebook is the social tool dujour, and Twitter is Facebook’s cooler, thinner younger sibling, blogs tend to get dismissed as less than social and certainly not as powerful for creating connections. But my story suggests otherwise. My blog was where I chronicled not so much the boring adoption journey itself, but my emotional response to a process that really isn’t very forgiving of emotion. See adoption is a lot about preparation, anticipation, anxiety, hope, disappointment, grief and, if everything finally comes together, ultimately its about celebration. Being embroiled in the adoption process (read: bureaucracy) for six years meant quite a few blog posts about this crazy range of emotions. I don’t need to recap all of it here, but I will tell you that we started pursuing international adoption, which has it’s own set of complications associated with it. We accepted and lost two referrals (a referral is a child in adoption speak) about 18 months apart (this was after waiting over a year for the first referral). Those children just disappeared into the ether that is that process. With the international thing no one ever tells you where the referrals go — they are just gone. We switched agencies three times. We transitioned from international to domestic in shifting from one agency to the next. Each comes with its own set of fears. International is expensive and the process can be long and disappointing, depending on the country. But with domestic adoption there is the fear of the first mom changing her mind or the first dad not really being on board. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy though, right? As I moved along this path I talked about it on my personal blog. And the craziest thing started to happen. I started to meet people who were rooting for me, or who were also embroiled in the adoption conundrum, or people that had been victorious and were wise, experienced parents of adopted children. A real dialogue and a real community of supportive humans started to emerge and they stayed with me through the entire ordeal.

I blogged when I was confused by paperwork. I blogged when we got our first referral. I blogged when I lost sleep and when that referral drifted away, when the invitation to travel to another country never came and when our adoption agency dealt with some shady issues. I blogged over my frustration with the wait and the silence and with people who popped out babies one after the other. I wasn’t really doing it for anyone else. I didn’t expect anyone would care or be moved to return to my site or participate in the discussion. I just needed to say what I had to say and my blog was that outlet. But people were reading and they did care and they were participating. It was single people, married people, straight and gay, moms and dads, grandparents. People who wanted kids. People who didn’t. Families immersed in the adoption quagmire. I was humbled and grateful for every blog comment, every email, every new friend or acquaintance. They kept me hopeful on those days when I had no other reason to be. And six years into it, when I was ready to give up hope, I wrote a blog post in response to a woman who, when suffering from mental illness, threw her twin babies into the Mississippi river. I wrote her a letter, actually. Her and anyone like her that was struggling. It wasn’t really for her or them. It was for me. It was my inner dialogue coming out and I published it for the world. I begged her and anyone like her to please please consider me. Not ‘me’ per se. But us – all of us in that place – that limbo between wanting a child and having a child. That place that is a cloud of confusion and desperation and hopefulness. That letter, that personal plea, that prayer moved my little community into a conversation I can’t really describe. Suddenly I was receiving emails with suggestions for immediate action that I should take. People who’d had luck with one angle or another were sharing their secrets and I was determining which to pursue.

I moved again into the breach with renewed energy and a feeling that this would be my last great effort at reaching out and trying to find my family. One suggestion was an aggregated list managed by a woman who collected crisis situations from all over the country. So instead of aligning with an agency, I would be choosing to pursue individual situations. I don’t want to get into the mechanics of the adoption process, that’s not what this post is about. But, suffice it to say, these people in my online community altered my perception of what was possible and when I decided to think absolutely outside of my comfort zone and pursue these various options, things started to happen. I followed up on a couple of crisis situations, which led me to a conversation with an adoption coordinator who remembered me months later when a woman came to them looking for a family just like ours. We were interviewed by the first mom and her family, we ultimately met them and grew to care very deeply for them. In July of 2006 my son was born and we took him home 48 hours later. When I am asked if the wait was worth it I always answer in the affirmative. Because now that I know him, I know why we had to wait. It was for him. He is exactly who we were supposed to meet. He is our family.

Why is this a Geek Girls post? Why have I decided to share this today? Because with all of this talk of social media and the miracle that it is for business (I use the word ‘miracle’ facetiously) and personal branding, at the end of the day these are human interactions. It is our humanity that moves the needle forward – a little at a time. With all of our tweets and status updates, pictures and connections, I want us to recognize that ‘transparency’ is just a buzz word. What we really want is honesty and authenticity and humanity and, even a little vulnerability. We are not connecting because we are fabulous. We are connecting because we are real. We are flawed. We NEED each other. We learn and grow from and support each other. We challenge each other. The tools have changed. There is more possibility for connection. The conversations might be bigger. But we are still perfectly imperfect humans.

On this Thanksgiving I am thankful for my family. My bright shining light – my boy. His first mom and dad and the gift they gave us. And all of the lovely, far-away people on the internet who never let me lose hope, who gave me energy and ideas, and ultimately (whether they know it or not) led me to my son. Happy Thanksgiving.

———

*Note: this post is not meant to be representative of the adoption process in any way. It merely reflects my experience with it. Every experience is different. Adoption is a worthy, worthwhile pursuit and I wouldn’t change a thing about the path that lead me to my son.

Additional Resources

National Adoption Day

Adopting.org

Adoption.com

The New Face of Networking

Posted on November 1, 2009

Recently a financial services provider for Clockwork (the Geek Girls have day jobs at Clockwork) sent a note asking us where we network for business. I assume our contact was hoping to meet other small business owners like us and thinking that attending such events would be the best way to do that. Without thinking I started to answer, but it was tougher than I thought to come up with any kind of meaningful list of networking events that I attend regularly to connect with business contacts. I stopped trying and simply responded that the majority of significant connections I’ve made over the last few years have been made via social networking. In fact, I had tweeted only days prior that I was struggling with a particular experience with this financial services provider and, while I received several responses from competitors, I heard nothing from anyone from the brand itself. It was unfortunate, actually, because this is no small brand. In fact it’s huge. The idea that they seem to have a very minimal (if they have one at all) social marketing presence seems sort of backwards.

Later that day I did an informational interview with a freelancer looking to make new business connections for new work. While discussing her desire to find new opportunities and people in my network with whom I could connect her, I asked the question, ‘What are you doing with social?’ She responded by admitting, as so many people do, that she didn’t really see the usefulness of it — especially Twitter. I suggested that Twitter might actually be a very valuable tool in her quest for connections because, via Twitter, she’d have access to people she never would have opportunity to meet in any other setting.

Both of these conversations got me thinking about how some business and professional individuals still view social media. They see it as too much ‘social’, there’s not enough business value. The Geek Girls always say that we’re not here to sell our readers on social media. But I would suggest that those among you who still think it’s mostly fluff, might want to look start ‘listening’. Tune in to those people on Twitter that you know and respect in a professional capacity and then start to leverage their networks. See who they follow and start listening to more peripheral conversations. If you’re curious you should know that Twitter doesn’t work like Facebook because you can follow just about anyone. And if you decide to participate you have that option, as long as you are contributing in a relevant, authentic way. In essence, you can leverage your contacts’ networks to determine those among them that could be beneficial for you to know and, ultimately, introduce yourself to them and participate in conversations with them. It requires an investment of time and attention. But the opportunity is not insignificant.

When the Geek Girls are out talking to people about technology and social media I often talk about how we have opportunities to be better friends because of the connections social networks have enabled for us. I know that I am a better friend because of what these services bring to my relationships. Life is busy. Being a mom and a professional and a person with interests, social networks have allowed me to connect and reconnect with my friends on my terms. It may be late at night, I might be exhausted or in my pajamas, but I can make contact with my friends, catch up on their lives and their families and the things that are important to them, and remind them again that I care and I’m here. But these sorts of interactions are not reserved for our personal lives only. We can also make and foster new connections for business. And I would suggest that business networking is equally as difficult for some in real life for some of the same reasons. Using a tool like Twitter gives us access to people we need on our terms. We can learn from them, converse with them, make an impression on them, perhaps even influence them, all on our own time and our own terms. Perhaps even late at night in our pajamas.

I can join and participate in my professional associations, but my free time is so rare and so valuable that the events they produce really have to provide some serious value. Getting a babysitter or coordinating with the rest of my family or sacrificing family time or the time I need to actually get my work done are all difficult prospects. I am not alone. Most people I know are very selective about the traditional networking and continuing education events they attend. But when you consider the potential that social media offers, suddenly you’re confronted with the idea that there are now, for the first time ever, far fewer than six degrees separating each of us from just about anybody.

Don’t get me wrong, the Geek Girl’s also say that, whether you’re a brand trying to have a presence for social marketing, or a person trying to engage with friends, family or professional connections, we do not recommend that social networks take the place of real-time interaction. Social media is ‘in addition to’, not ‘instead of’. But wow, the potential for access and first contact is huge. Where you go from there is up to you. Don’t discount this social revolution on the web. It’s moving like this because there really is something to it. My recommendation is — start listening and see what you hear. And, if you’re the financial services provider I mention earlier in this post — call me. I’ve got a few tips for you.

Where Does Content Come From?

Posted on October 27, 2009

I am a horrible client. I am one of those people who finds myself prefacing many conversations with ‘do as I say, not as I do.’ Recently, when discussing the content needs for a client’s website, we were addressing the elephant in the room — the logical reason for a blog for their business, the potential for real contribution to an industry dialogue, and their feeling of overwhelm when confronted by the responsibility of creating that much content. They aren’t alone. I hear this every day, from clients in every industry who want to take advantage of the fluidity of the web, and the new channels for communicating a message. But the idea of committing to regular blog entries, or having to think of interesting ideas that often, just leaves them stymied. And believe me, I get it. I get overwhelmed with the responsibility of my work, my life and then, on top of all of that, this blog. Life is overwhelming. Being interesting is just not easy. So I thought I’d share with you what I share with clients — just a few inspirational pointers to help get you started down the path to creating compelling (relatively speaking) content.

This thing that is happening on the web right now with Social Media has everybody talking because there is a lot to talk about. All of the connections and conversations and industries and ideas are exciting to watch and to learn from and to participate in. You can start by listening in on your industry or those conversations that touch on topics around which you feel passionately and find room for your own voice. I try to encourage clients to participate in the dialogue because, quite simply — that is content. Respond to conversations that are already happening. Bring them back to your blog and take a position. Whatever it is – whether you agree or disagree–your contribution adds richness to the discussion. I think people often believe they need to comment on a blog post or article and that must be the end of their interaction with the material. Really, there’s nothing wrong with taking it home and expanding on your comment, your opinion, your reaction to the piece and encouraging others to do the same. Participating in conversations that are already happening will also expand your network, or potentially establish your voice as that of an industry expert.

I have one client who is, for all intents and purposes, a teacher or business coach. This particular person interacts with large audiences of people in classroom settings every single day. And she’s exceedingly passionate about the work that she does because, in her mind, and based on quantified data, she’s changing these businesses for the better. But the very thought of blogging adds yet another thing to her mile-long list and that is one thing too many. Here’s the deal – oftentimes you ARE your content. You’re creating content every day in your engagement with your clients and customers. Find ways to capture and share easily digested pieces of that on your blog. In her case a Flip Camera is an easy, affordable way to not only capture clips of the work she’s doing, but also to tap into her audience for their reactions and response to what they learned. One session with a live audience could potentially fuel many blog posts with rich and engaging content. Taking some video every time means she’ll build a really resource-rich library that could prove a real asset to her blog and her company.

There are even simpler ways to address the content dilemma. Talk to the people around you, the people you work with, perhaps, and brainstorm topics that you think need to be tackled. Talk to your audience — what are their expectations? Ask them for feedback, questions, contributions. Invite other industry leaders to guest post on your blog. Distribute responsibility for content topics across your organization. Don’t try to manage the overwhelm alone. Talking to people plants the seeds of content. That is the first step.

Let me be clear — this post is not at all a guide around content strategy. There are additional considerations that I’ve not touched here. But I am suggesting that you needn’t be overwhelmed to the point of silence by your need for content. It just requires a shift in thinking about what constitutes good content and where we get our inspiration. At the end of the day, if you love what you do and you are willing to talk about it and share your passion and just plain participate — you’ve got yourself some content.

Technology-Enabled Parenting

Posted on September 23, 2009

The other day I was surfing the radio and I landed on a discussion on talk radio about parents who text when they are with their children — in the park, at home, wherever. The debate centered around one mother having witnessed another mother sitting on a bench texting on her phone instead of interacting with her child on the playground. The eyewitness mom had a real problem with the texting mom — she really felt like the texting mom was neglecting her little one. The radio host was inviting people to call in and give their opinions. Texting while parenting: good or bad? I couldn’t call; I had reached my destination. But my first thought was this: parents need to stop judging each other. Just. Stop.

We should know better! Being a parent is hard. Every parent is different, and every parent needs to determine a way of parenting that works for them and for their children. It’s not really for the rest of us to say what that should look like. If children are fed and cared for and if there is love — the rest is really up to each family to decide. (Yes, there are exceptions to every rule and no, I’m not going to discuss them here.) As a Geek Girl, and a parent, I am so deeply appreciative of how technology has enabled me to be a more present, available mother that I want to talk about it here.

I was raised in a home where both my parents worked. I grew up in a relatively small town in Michigan where most moms (or at least the mothers of my friends) either did not work, or did not have jobs that kept them very far away from their families. Not so in our house. My mom is a physician, and when I was a kid she was at the height of her career. I know that my mother’s career shaped my view of the world and, more specifically, my sense of what the world had to offer me. I never doubted my potential. But when I look back on my childhood, I don’t remember my mother ever coming to a playground with me. When she talks about me as an infant, she says she changed maybe a handful of diapers. My father and other caregivers did the bulk of the diaper changing. My goal, as a parent, was to be more present for my little guy. Technology: my laptop, my mobile device and wi-fi, has allowed me to do exactly that.

My work is such that, if I don’t have client meetings scheduled, I can do it from just about anywhere. Deadlines are my only real time constraints. Certainly, the world expects me to be available and in my office during general business hours, but there’s a lot of flexibility there. Thanks to technology, I am not tethered to my place of business, or a desk, or a desktop computer, or even hours in the day. My mobile device allows me the freedom to be physically present for my son, while also being easily accessible to my staff. Am I ever entirely focused on my phone while I am with my son? I really hope not. But sometimes I have to strike an unpleasant balance. Sometimes I do have to answer a call or a text or spend more time dealing with an issue than I would prefer. But that’s the deal: I get to go to the playground, or take off early to go play, or stay home and take care of him when he’s sick. And our family has worked out a schedule that means limited daycare time for him in any given week. We’re comfortable with daycare, too, because of the social interaction with other kids. I feel good about the balance we’ve been fortunate enough to strike. But here’s the deal: I can only speak for what works for ME and MY family. I have no business judging anyone else’s choices. It’s also probably not healthy for me to compare myself to other mothers. There are always mothers better than me, more available, making cupcakes, or scrapbooks or knitting hats. I can only do the best that I can do.

My 3-year-old has opinions. It isn’t unusual for him to slam my laptop shut if I am working on a Saturday and he’s had enough. I get frustrated, sure. But I also listen to him. I walk away when he needs me to. I guess it’s just like anything — balance is critical. It makes no sense for me to go to the park and entirely ignore my child. There are times when I owe my son and my family my complete attention. Mornings, mealtimes, bedtime: those are sort of sacred around here. (Again, there are exceptions to every rule, and no, I’m still not discussing them here.) There are also times when I owe my business or my clients my complete attention. The rest of the time my life looks like something in between. Because, it’s about that balance.

So, if you see me in the park with my kid, cell phone in hand, texting madly just know this: I’m doing my best. I’m conscious of my choices. And technology has allowed me to be present for him. I am paying attention to my life. And other moms (especially the judgmental ones) should just pay attention to theirs.