Sunday, July 19, 2009

We are so lucky to live in a great neighborhood. It's a place where kids are usually playing outside at any given time of the day. My kids are running back and forth between our house and neighbors' houses. We easily have three parks to choose from and the kids can ride bikes and scooters throughout the neighborhood. I know we often take all this for granted, but all I have to do is cross over to a nearby neighborhood where I know the area is not as kid-friendly.

I think my comfort level within my neighborhood can be attributed to the fact that I actually know my neighbors. We visit often, and our kids who range in ages all hang out together. The adults are able to share happy or sad news with each other, and we also look out for each other. Most importantly, my immediate neighbors are just as willing to participate in our annual block party, which consists of water balloons, food, drinks, small fireworks and more water balloons.

I'm very glad our children will have some wonderful memories of their neighborhood friends.
















Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Somehow I have become the social media "expert" in my office. However, with a staff of six and so many projects that it's difficult to keep up with various trends -- marketing, design, etc. -- it doesn't take much to be an expert. In a larger office, particularly in the private sector, I would just be a worker bee trying to keep up with new technology.

As it is, I have read several articles online and even attended a conference focusing on social media. Remember this story where I unintentionally disregarded the keynote speaker?

This was an unfortunate experience especially since he was very interesting, entertaining and knowledgeable. Tomorrow Penny and I will have another chance to listen to Peter Shankman when we attend a workshop in Tulsa. Since money is tight, especially at a nonprofit, I don't have too many professional development opportunities. So I'm glad the powers that be at OkieSMart are bringing Shankman to Oklahoma.

Hopefully, we will manage to forget what idiots we were in Frisco and learn some very helpful information. Because for the first time in quite a while, I'm excited about learning new things in the field of PR/marketing.