Earlier this month, my husband and I traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana to participate in Erin’s book launch party.  I’d never been to a book launch party before so I didn’t really know what to expect.  But, having grown up in Indiana it made a good opportunity to connect with old friends and to maybe make new ones.

Lisa Thornbury Clark and her mom drove up from Cincinnati to see me.  Lisa and I were in graduate school together at the Fisher Institute for Wellness at Ball State University.  My long-time friend Larry Grider, who still lives in Indianapolis joined me at the event as well.  Larry and I met about a million years ago when he was president of the Indianapolis Jay-Cee’s and I was president of the Hagerstown Jay-Cee’s.  Finally, after working together for nearly a year and never having met in person, Teresa Lovely drove up from Kentucky to confirm that we are both real people.  Teresa is the guest moderator for Health Promotion LIVE‘s “State of Wellness” series.  Teresa and I talk by phone regularly and spend at least one hour together each month during the State of Wellness webinars.

The book launch party was awesome.

Most of the women profiled in Erin’s book made it to the party making it a very special occasion.  It was great meeting so many amazing women from around the country.  What could be better: my favorite husband Joe, good friends and me on page 63. hehe…

I started HPCareer.Net shortly after moving with my two teenaged children half way across the country to the DC metro area, where I knew all of two people.

If you can’t find a job…  make one, I did.

You can buy Erin’s book on Amazon.

• sitting in front of a glowing box while tapping on another box with random marks on its raised squares
• picking up an item and talking into it, rather than talking to the other humans in the approximate area
• climbing into a noisy, smelly box to travel with some difficulty along with many of other boxes to some unknown destination then, climbing back into the same box and reversing the trip over and over again.

This morning I had a similar experience when watching this youtube video forwarded to my by sister.  Enjoy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Having spoken with Mark very little in 2010, it’s an especially delightful and inspiring way to begin 2011.  Mark asked what my goals are for the new year.  I must admit having not given the idea too much thought prior to has question.  Speaking with him reminded me that the new year, albeit just a date on the calendar is a wonderful time for reflection and prospection.

Reflecting on 2010

“What does not kill me, makes me stronger” has come to mind time and time again in the last couple of years and especially in 2010 when it seemed the economy and high unemployment might actually get the better of me, it didn’t and it won’t… Maybe it’s simple pig-headed-ness or the belief that failure is not an option. “Whether you think that you can, or that you can’t, you are usually right“.

I’m looking forward to whatever role I may play as I strive to bring people together to create that which none of us could accomplish on our own.  That is my mission for 2011, my promise and the reason I’ll enthusiastically spring out of bed each morning.  This, my dear friend Mark, is my “clear thinking” answer.

It’s our opportunity to create a global time capsule in video format.  Visit:  http://www.onedayonearth.org/ to learn more.  Integrate it into your work day, get your employees involved or use it in your course work if you’re a professor they’ve got tool kits all ready for you.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The significance of the date is particularly appealing to me.  Each year on my kids birthday’s I would remind them how significant their new age was.  I.e. when my daughter turned 9 I congratulated her on being the square root of 3.  When my son turned 17 I congratulated him on being a prime number.  I don’t know how I ever started this…  but to this day I do it each and every year.

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FourSquare – it’s a geo based app which makes it possible to keep up with the comings and goings of friends and they with me.  It’s based on “checking in” at the places you go normally.

So, I go to my local Costco.  When I arrive I click on the Foursquare app.  It triangulates your location using cell phone towers and comes up with a list of places near me.  I choose Costco from the list and then click “check in”.  If Costco isn’t in the list then I can add it myself.  There, I’ve checked in. Whoo hoo!

Why would you want to do this?  It’s easy and kind of fun.  The more places you check in, the more points you accumulate.  Checking in multiple times during the day and checking in at a variety of places not only earns points and bonus points, you also unlock badges.  What do these points & badges do for you?  Bragging rights   You should know that I’m proud of my 5 badges.

Where might this and other apps like this be going?  I expect as retailers are able to identify their most loyal customers, they’ll be reaching out to them to offer unique deals to keep those warm feelings flowing.  Perhaps other retailers will try to entice me with messages such as: The next time you visit Costco, come across the street and have a cup of coffee on us, knowing that I’m in the area.

Good, bad or indifferent?  I can imagine some thinking that this is an incredible invasion of privacy.  Maybe… Others may think what an opportunity this might be for thieves who would love to know when you’re not home.  Doubtful.  Unless you choose to share your updates with them.

So, tell me… what are your favorites?

Michaela Conley, MA

Since the mid 90′s I have been the CEO and founder of HPCareer.Net, a business based on facilitating information sharing, long before the term “social media” was coined.  HPCareer.Net (Health Promotion Career Network) focuses on delivering  career opportunities real-time.  By putting the collective power to share into the hands of students, professionals and others, the network has grown to more than 15,000+ registered users who are not only keeping an eye out for their own career advancement but also for their own network of colleagues and associates making the 15k users just the first ripple in the virtual prospective candidate pool of industry centric connected professionals.

Partner Network

In 2000: HPCareer.Net began partnering with membership organizations, publishers and credentialing bodies both inside the United States and Internationally to support their members/ subscribers health promotion related career goals.

In 2009:  The recent economic downturn has given us the opportunity to create new services.   I now host weekly webinars on Health Promotion LIVE with nationally & internationally recognized experts on topics important to professionals in health promotion related fields.  These web events provide professionals the opportunity to participate in high quality professional development without the necessity and expense of travel.  Because we are committed to sharing information without barriers to anyone accessing it, all live events and recorded archives are free.

Entrepreneur, Trainer, Facilitator, Connector, Social Media Strategist,

I’m an alumni of the Fisher Institute for Wellness at Ball State University and currently reside in the Washington DC metro area.

I’ve been a loyal Dell customer for many years.  Two weeks ago began the saga that is making me question my loyalty.

Because I depend so heavily on my computer, I always purchase the extended warranty.  Next Day, On-site Service seems as though it would quickly resolve any issue that might come up, right?

As the late Paul Harvey would say “now you’ll know the rest of the story”.

1. Call Dell: Speak with a very nice tech support guy who walks me through a few diagnostic tests.  “Seems like it’s the motherboard.  Let me get someone to bring a new one” he says.  This seems great, he was able to figure out the issue and take action to resolve it.  So the next day (Next Day On-site Service)..  Nope!   Five days later after Dell sends a new (not refurb) part a local tech calls and schedules for the following day.

2. Dell tech person shows up and installs new part, has difficulty, contacts Dell and is assured that it’s just a matter of re-installing the operating system, Tech leaves me to complete the install with help of phone support.  New part doesn’t solve computer issue…  A new motherboard and video card are ordered by phone support.  Again, I wait the five days it takes for the parts and the local person to show up.   Second batch of parts don’t solve the problem.

3. Dell offers me a replacement new computer.  “It will be as good as or better than what I have” they tell me.  Of course I accept the offer, what are my options really at this point.  Over the course of the next twenty four hours, five or six Dell representatives call me to ensure me that they are “personally taking ownership” in this issue and will do everything they can….

4. I am assured I will be receiving a new computer. Others tell me “yes, it will be new” however, a tech will open the box to ensure it works properly so the box will actually say “refurbished”.  Since I was born yesterday I completely believe them, wouldn’t you?

5. Finally, the main reason for my flat forehead: I am told by each Dell rep that my “New” computer will arrive ten to fifteen to twenty to as much as thirty working days from the date the last tech was on-sight.

Which day is the “Next Day” for “on-site service?  tomorrow perhaps?  Come on Dell, show me you do care.

Why am I sharing this story?  It came to mind this morning when I read an article from Washington Post’s Fast Forward columnist, Rob Pegoraor.  He wrote an excellent article on how Facebook’s continuously evolving privacy policies (small snips here and there) is causing many users to flea.  In his article “Facebook Meets the “unlike” Button” he lists three alarming changes Facebook has made effecting EVERY user.  Read his article to learn more.  For a quick and alarming visual on what that means to you and me, check out the flash graphic which shows visually the changes from year to year.

I’m guessing but I’d be willing to bet that none of the leadership of Facebook have a second grade photo of parted hair on the left.  If they did they would have learned long ago to stop fiddling with a good thing.

The article says that once it’s officially rolled out it will be considered a “premium” service so it’s going to come with a fee of some sort but who cares…  For the few times a year I want to get on a call and actually see the other four faces in the meeting, I’ll be glad to throw a few cents at Skype.  After all, we’ve been together for so long

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thanks to everyone at the SocialMedia-Academy.com for providing such a great learning experience.