Posts Archived From: 'February 2013'

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Notes from Alt: Social Media 101


This recap rounds out my Alt Summit experience quite nicely, and bookends the other recaps I’ve posted on my blog during the past few weeks. What follows is an overview of my most beloved social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

 

Although the Alt Summit session was titled Following the Conversation: Social Media 101, I still learned a thing or two from our four panelists: Erin Souder of House of Earnest, Allison Silber of Engaged & Inspired, Kelly Beall of Design Crush, and Meg Biram of Meg Biram – The Edit.

 

• For example, did you know it’s best for your Twitter and Instagram usernames to be identical?

 

• Do you use Pinterest to promote your own work?

 

• Have you considered creating a Twitter list of people with whom you wish to continually network?

 

These three tips alone were enough to get me thinking about my social media activity, and how it can always be improved – regardless of the platform or purpose.

 

http://www.haikudeck.com/p/Y117J2yrtS/alt-summit-slc-2013-social-media-101

 

>> What social media platform do you prefer? Got any tips or tricks to share? Comment below!

Notes from Alt: Online Organization


Not long after I starting spending significant time online exploring email, social media, and other websites, I discovered a problem: I was quickly growing overwhelmed.

 

So much great content! So little time! 

 

It appeared I was wading my way through countless levels of communication and the like while missing some of my most beloved blogs, my most enjoyable emails. And while I have since learned how to navigate my online experience, I’m always open to new methods of productivity.

 

That’s largely why Erin Loechner’s Alt Summit presentation last month on organizing one’s online life piqued my interested. Erin, of the popular blog Design for Mankind and an impassioned advocate of the slow blogging movement, provided suggestions on staying organized and maximizing efficiency while working, living, and playing online.

 

One of Erin’s key points, which is outlined in my Haiku Deck below, is this wonderful idea of Golden Hours. Erin suggests tackling your biggest, most creative, most ambitious projects during your Golden Hours: the time of the day you work best.

 

Anyone who follows me on social knows that my Golden Hours are between 5 and 10 a.m. My creativity is at its sharpest while rising with the sun each morning. In college, I was a night owl. But today? I’m an early bird through and through.

 

During your Golden Hours, click through my notes recapping Erin’s presentation and ask yourself: How can you make time to dive into your projects that matter most?

 

http://www.haikudeck.com/p/M65D6QWTLi/alt-summit-slc-2013-online-organization

 

>> Have a favorite app to stay organized online? Share it!

 

>> A more detailed recap of Erin’s January 25 Alt Summit presentation is available at Design for Mankind.

Notes from Alt: Personal Branding


Personal branding is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. Unexpectedly, following the 2010 publication of Nerdy Thirty, my first book, my idea of personal branding took on a life of its own. Without knowing it, my book and my work promoting its pages culminated into who I was as a writer and (if I’m honest: a nerdy!) woman.

 

Countless organizations have asked me to write about and discuss this idea of personal branding. (A secret? It’s much more than simply social media.) So when I discovered a personal branding session last month at Alt Summit, I was curious to hear another woman’s perspective.

 

The energy, expertise, humor, approachability, honesty, and passion put forth from the podium by our speaker, wedding photographer Jasmine Star, made me a personal brand believer yet again.

 

Jasmine articulated what it means to build one’s brand, how to maintain its momentum, and the easiest way to identify your audience. And trust me when I say that Jasmine’s Alt Summit remarks were about far, far more than photography. (Although her presentation slides were pretty as a … well … picture.)

 

http://www.haikudeck.com/p/mLR57ctKTc/alt-summit-slc-2013-personal-branding

 

What have you done today to enhance your personal brand? What has worked for you in the past? What are your personal branding goals? Share your thoughts below!

Notes from Alt: Sponsor Collaborations


Last month marked my first Alt Summit, a three-day conference designed to inspire and motivate (primarily female) bloggers of all backgrounds. Alt Summit’s goal is simple: show (and tell) bloggers how to transform their hobbies into paying businesses.

 

The sessions – much like the impromptu fashion shows made possible by the attendees’ ensembles – were colorful, diverse, and, at times, made for great photography.

 

The journalist in me cannot thwart the ongoing urge to take notes nearly all of the time. I planned for this, of course, relying exclusively on Evernote and my iPad for each session. (An aside: I first discovered this effective and easy-to-use note-taking app from my good friend, Andy Peters, at BarCamp Omaha a few years ago. When I learned that Evernote could be accessed on a variety of platforms, I fell hard and quickly became a user for life.)

 

Each Alt Summit session gave me something to consider for this very website. My first on Thursday morning, Collaborations With Sponsors, got my head spinning in the best way possible. Today’s bloggers can build successful relationships with brands of all sizes, yielding increased traffic, sponsored content, and user engagement like never before.

 

Our panelists included Camille Styles of Camille Styles, Merrilee Liddiard of Merg Mag, Jenny Komenda of Little Green Notebook, and Mitra Morgan of Joss & Main.

 

In the spirit of sharing my Alt Summit notes with you, I opted to take a different route for each session. Below you will see a nifty online presentation built using Haiku Deck. This free iPad app truly puts PowerPoint to shame, with a seemingly limitless image library to accompany each slide. (Best of all? Haiku Deck slides can be shared effortlessly and saved forever.)

 

But enough about the tools I used! Let’s talk brand collaboration by way of Camille, Merrilee, Jenny, and Mitra.

 

http://www.haikudeck.com/p/B5V1Bh8aYg/alt-summit-slc-2013-collaborations-with-sponsors

 

Successful blogger/brand relationships that were also mentioned included The Girls with Glasses Show and kate spade, and Erin Gates and Joss & Main. What collaborations have caught your attention? Have a success story to share? We’d love to hear the details!

 

 

Eat This: French Onion Soup Dip


My mom, aunt, two cousins, and a dear friend have resurrected the traditional Girls Night Out with the Girls Night In. We rotate each month as hostess, each bringing something to eat and something to share. (This is the same group of ladies who joined me last fall for a Pinterest Potluck Party.) It has become the perfect opportunity to try new recipes on a familiar (and sometimes all-too-honest!) crowd.

 

On Saturday, as an unseasonably warm winter day turned bitterly cold at dusk, our small group gathered at my mom’s house for a cozy and relaxing dinner. I was asked to bring an appetizer, which is a departure from my usual potluck assignment: dessert.

 

Eager to try a new (and savory) recipe, I clicked over to Pinterest, which lead me to this scrumptious, salty, soup-inspired cheese dip, originally posted by Elizabeth’s Edible Experience.

 

Served with sea salt pita chips, the dip was a huge hit. Judging by the small amount left in my baking dish (which my mom saved in her refrigerator for later), I am guaranteed to serve it again.

 

French Onion Soup Dip

Ingredients

4 bacon slices, cooked, cooled, and crumbled
3 tablespoons of butter
2 large yellow onions, diced
4 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons green onions, chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

 

Cook the bacon, either by frying it in a skillet or (my preferred method) baking it in an oven. (To bake your bacon: Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminium foil. Lay out the bacon and place into a cold oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and allow the bacon to cook for 20 minutes. Remove the bacon from the oven and allow to cool on paper towels.)

 

Melt the butter in a pan and add the diced yellow onions. Sauté the onions on medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to low and cook for another 10-20 minutes or until the onions are brown, stirring occasionally.

 

Transfer the yellow onions to a mixing bowl and allow to cool slightly. Add the shredded Gruyère cheese, green onions, mayonnaise, sour cream, salt, and pepper, and mix together well.

 

Pour the mixture into a ceramic baking dish that has been lightly coated with cooking spray. Top the mixture with a few tablespoons of grated Gruyère cheese.

 

Bake for 20 minutes, or until the dip is golden brown and bubbling. Sprinkle a tablespoon or two of green onions on top before serving. Serve alongside sea salt pita chips or small slices of French bread, either toasted or untoasted.

 

Internal Emails Threats


Internal email threats can result from a compromised email account a malicious employee or the unintended consequence of human error. A malicious employee or employee mistake can result in an email threat that the employer should respond to. This is where good cybersecurity practice is a must, and you can get some good email security features from services than Fortinet online and others.

Here is a video that shows a hacker changing the subject line on an email.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urJDDquutjc

People are going to send you email at any time for whatever reason and it can hurt you if you are not responsive to the email.

Retention

In many businesses, retention is a key factor. When the retention period has expired, the employee will be required to fill out a survey asking about their work experience. This survey should be provided to the employee even if he/she was the only one to click the “Thank You” button on the website.

Thank You Emails

Thank you emails are the best kind of reminder emails. These emails should be personalized, from the employees themselves and should contain specific action steps that the employee can take to improve his/her situation. These action steps can be important. That is why these emails should be customized to the specific situation. These action steps can be actions that the employee can take while working at the company, or actions that the employee should take in his/her relationship with the company.

In addition to the action steps, all these emails should have a personalized smiley face.

After the employee has received the survey, he/she will be required to fill out the action step action sheet. If an employee filled out the action step sheet correctly, he/she will be required to send it to the correct person.

With the help of the aforementioned security measures, it is highly unlikely that an employee will fall victim to a malicious email threat.

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Do you believe that password reuse is a major security flaw in today’s Internet? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

On Happiness and Experiences


“Take the time to come home to yourself every day.”
– Robin Casarjean, writer

 

I stumbled upon that quote several weeks ago and something about it gave me pause. Perhaps it is because we are at the beginning of a fresh new year. Or maybe it’s because my constant travel makes me long for home like never before.

 

Whatever the reason, the quote got me thinking about what it means to be happy. To be truly, blissfully, over-the-moon with giddiness and glee. The more I simmer on the ideas of happiness and home, the more often I return to the same conclusion: happiness in life is not about STUFF.

 

That soul-calming sensation, you see, is about EXPERIENCES. About connecting with one another. Making memories. Examining how these happenings have branded you in the best way possible.

 

I am very eager – as I have already explained – to attend Alt Summit later this month in Salt Lake City. But as I fill my Google Reader with RSS feeds from the various bloggers who will speak, I have become even more cautious not to confuse consumerism with character.

 

So much of what makes today’s blogs popular is the stuff we think we need, the stuff we’re told to buy. I love browsing Pinterest as much as the next girl, but I am also wholly cognizant not to make curating (and the subsequent purchasing) a form of happiness, an avenue of experience.

 

Retail therapy does occasionally make me feel better. But countless blogs and brands want spending money to be a routine occurrence  Just because buying new shoes is easy as sending a text message doesn’t make it a replacement for feeling.

 

In 2013, strive to have more meaningful experiences. Participate. Create experiences for yourself. Invite others to do the same. You will be amazed at the change that comes.

 

 

 

 

In Advance Of Alt Summit


“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love.”

– Sophia Loren, actress

 

Later this month I will board an airplane in Omaha, bound for the equally cold landscape of Salt Lake City. The reason? Alt Summit 2013. It’s a multi-day conference designed for bloggers and creatives who are looking to get inspired, get noticed, and meet new faces.

 

This will mark my first Alt conference. From the countless blog posts I have read by previous attendees, I’m certain the experience will be engaging, enlightening, highly fashionable, and just plain fun. And although I don’t consider myself a lifestyle blogger, I do view the conference as an opportunity to network, potentially refine my writing/editing skills, and discover new partnerships alongside Jessica McKay of COOP and Birdhouse Interior Design.

 

Jessica and I became fast friends a few years ago (say that five times fast!) after we met via Twitter. Since then we have collaborated on a variety of projects (me writing for COOP, her helping with my interior design projects at home). We balance each other quite well – both personally and professionally – and I’m rather eager to investigate opportunities for the Birdhouse and COOP brands.

 

Have you attended an Alt conference? What advice or suggestions can you pass along? Until then, see you in Salt Lake City!

The Bundt Is Beautiful


“I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate.”

– Julia Child, chef

 

Preparing the sweet came easier to me than the savory, which probably explains my mouth full of metal. A cavity here, a root canal there is no match for a scrumptious dessert prepared with tender, loving care.

 

This bundt cake recipe is a constant reminder of that. In my early thirties, I accepted my kitchen as my own and slowly learned culinary basics. I scoured the web (and pestered my sister) for easy recipes that would buoy my confidence.

 

And in the beginning, there was bundt cake. (Or, more specifically, a bundt pan handed down from my late grandma, Dorothy Townley.) Ever so carefully I experimented with a variety of bundt cake recipes, knowing full well that the pan makes it pretty.

 

The Fall Time Pumpkin Cake recipe carefully clipped from a newspaper coupon many years ago has proven to be both foolproof and one of my favorites. When your pallet craves something sweet that’s beyond chocolate, consider this squash-inspired dessert.

 

bundt2

 

Fall Time Pumpkin Cake

1 package yellow cake mix

3/4 cup sugar

1 can pumpkin, 15 ounces

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 large eggs at room temperature

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a bundt pan. Combine all ingredients in the order listed above until well blended, by hand or using an electric mixer. Transfer batter to bundt pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Allow cake to completely cool before removing from the bundt pan. Serve with whipped topping.

 

Making 2013 My Brightest Year Yet


“I always entertain great hopes.”
– Robert Frost, poet

 

We have arrived at a blank page once again. The successes and failures, the heartbreak and healing, the good decisions and those we may forever question, can be physically shelved. Yesterday was 2012.

 

And today? Today is 2013. It’s a new beginning to whatever depths we choose. We can opt to drag the baggage of the previous year into this shiny new place. Or we can make the decision to do better. To be better. Make those changes – be they large or small – we have talked about for months … maybe even years.

 

In the spirit of all that is January 1, I wanted to share with you my five personal promises for the new year. Some are big; others, not so much. But I have found the best motivator for change is to give my wants and longings a voice. And this seems like the perfect place to do just that.

 

1. Pen my next book. May 2013 will mark three years since Nerdy Thirty was published. Since then I have written my thesis and earned a master’s degree. I have also planned a wedding and – the best part! – got married. There are simply no more excuses on which I can pin my delay. Another book is in me, and the topic is already being developed.

 

2. Host happy hour at home. You may be thinking to yourself, A cheeseboard and wine? That’s her idea of a resolution? I know, I know. At first I dismissed this one completely. But I realized this shift in at-home relaxation comes with it quality time with my beloved husband – something we often lack in our busy lives. Turning off the television, putting away our iPhones, and uncorking a bottle of red (and a bottle of white) can only yield good things.

 

3. Read every single day. Not just tweets and Facebook updates and emails. I unwrapped six new books for Christmas and have countless more to read before I sleep. I’m best in the day’s early dawn hours and find that to be the perfect time to savor a few pages. (I do understand, however, the perils of trying to read after at-home happy hour. So see? I’m being realistic with my goals.)

 

4. Send more handwritten correspondence. The written word is one of my purest pleasures in life. I routinely send handwritten notes and cards to family and friends. This year, I’m pushing myself to do even more. When the urge (and convenience) to communicate via email occurs, I will close my MacBook Air, grab a pen, and mail one of the hundreds of pieces of stationery I have collected over the years.

 

5. Forgive and forget. Now this one touches the heart a bit more. I’m a natural born people pleaser; which means that when friends and family upset me, I swallow my emotions and let them fester. My negative feelings toward others are never given a voice, so they tend to materialize elsewhere. It’s an immature way to handle it all, so I am making the decision to do better. I will forgive others when they hurt me and simply move on. Life is too short to embrace such pettiness and pointless squabbling.

 

http://www.haikudeck.com/p/hWdLYp5qRl/2013

 

Now, dear reader, it is your turn. Give your promises for 2013 a voice. Post them below – even if it’s anonymously. Let’s support one another in living our best lives this year. We are the only ones holding us back.

 

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