So...What's Next?!?

Outlining the Next Few Months

So much to juggle, however they are things that keep me motivated.

First the house...the house is a perfect example of "be careful what you ask for." We wanted a house that was pretty much a blank slate that we could work on to make our own. Boy was it...complete with white walls. I hate white walls. That was the first thing we accomplished when we moved in was putting color on the walls. But the carpet does not match. We have picked out the new carpet and bamboo floors. Yesterday my husband ordered a new front door. I have been tearing wallpaper down in my bathroom - I do not understand why people want wallpaper in their house, but...

All of this should be done in the next couple of months. Personally I am excited to get our dining room area set up. We are not going to use it as a dining room, but more of a library. It is attached to the kitchen which we have set up like a coffee shop and the dining room will be like our little Barnes & Noble.

Next my personal goal of getting and staying in shape. I delayed meeting with my trainer, but he has not given up on me. I have my first meeting with him tomorrow night. The goal is to get my endurance up, work on getting my strength back and then I will join their HIT class. I am looking forward to the end result. Start with the end in mind, right....

As far as the Bennigan's sitcom, I figured out how to make it come to life. It is perfect for sketch comedy! My husband and I are fans of Sketchworks here in Atlanta and they have sketch comedy writing classes and acting classes. My husband has agreed to taking the acting classes with me, so stay tuned.

Also related to creative writing - I am working on another performance piece that was inspired by the STIR event. This one is on the sensitive side, but I think is important. When it is complete and ready to be read I will let you know. I have also decided to start attending more spoken word events.

Vacation...boy do I need one, or two. We have planned our beach trip finally. In a couple of weeks I will be spending 4 days at St George Island with friends and family. I also started planning the trip to NYC with my son for his 14th b-day. It is a bit more expensive than I anticipated...but I will keep researching.

Personal finances. I am excited to announce that we are in the best shape we have ever been with our personal finances! wahoo! That includes the business cash flow as well. That is only more motivation to keep building. Believe me, this has been a long learning curve for me.

Associations - I just resigned from my post as programs chair for AECF. I love that group enough to know it is time for me to step down because I could no longer give them what they deserve.

Currently my focus is on the Enterprise 2.0 society. We have a huge event coming up in September where we hope to partner with other associations. We are reserving space for over 200 people at GA Tech. From there we  have a number of initiatives for the first part of next year which are very exciting.

It is also time to start gearing up for SoCon09. Also, if you read this blog regularly you know that I am part of the Social Media Club's Interim Board and we are hoping to re-launch a new chapter here in Atlanta.

That is enough to keep me busy as far as associations go - but expect to see me networking a bit more.

In regards to the business I am focused on enhancing the online training. I also am putting a plan together to "drink my own koolaide" and start marketing the company through more social media channels.

If you have read this far you will get to know that I am also looking at a very exciting strategic alliance. In the next couple of weeks I will be aligning my business with a company that completes my offerings. I will be working from their office space at Studio Plex in Inman Park. We have a video production and podcasting studio, which is cool, but more importantly is the technology for market intelligence gathering and for distribution that has been developed. It's very exciting. I hope to start scheduling meetings to demo their offerings and my services as soon as this week. I am also working on ideas for us to go to market together.

All of this is gearing me up to go national. I am currently working with 3 clients on long term projects and have 2-3 in the pipeline. Now that I have an office space to work from I am looking to bring on a junior account manager - which I have already identified a couple of good candidates.

So yeah - I am busy - but having lots of fun.

Coffee with my favorite skeptic

Sometimes we just need to have coffee.

I was invited by one of my favorite skeptics to meet for coffee this morning. We met at 8:30am and spoke until 11:30am. 3 hours of conversation about how the world is changing, is it for better or for worse, how we need to adapt, and is social media waste of time when we need to be billing for our hours.

My skeptic gave me the best visual ever. He said that as he is reading and attempting to be part of the social media world, every time he hesitates he see me as his "Jiminy Cricket" urging him on.

As we discussed the opportunities to get vital information from a simple tweet on Twitter, he said - "a tweet is a wish your heart makes."

Alright - someone has watched too many Disney movies.

We discussed the importance of learning how to learn. 150 years ago people needed to know how to think on their feet, solve problems and adapt to the wilderness for mere survivor. Today we are dealing with a wilderness of information, and we need to know how to think on our feet, solve problems, and adapt to the wilderness.

Although both of us had work to do, a three hour coffee discussion was just what I needed to refresh my spirit and connect all the reasons why I am so optimistic about the future of the world.

Every topic that came up, from privacy issues to HR concerns we were able to explore the changes that needed to happen in the world and the positives of those changes.

The only dark side in my view of the future is the fear of those who remain ignorant. I fear that information in the wrong hands can be used to influence those who do not take the initiative to be life long learners and skeptics. I fear a world of sheep in an environment where a charismatic person can broadcast a warped message loud and wide.   

I love that information is available to everyone to both find and contribute to. I feel that the participation of the masses is what protects us. I think, somewhere, deep down, that is what compels me to be such an advocate of participation by the masses.

Finally, I think  besides taking the time to participate in online communities, we need to take more time to have 3 hour coffee conversations. Life shouldn't be all about business transactions and networking. Every now and then we need to have the opportunity to connect simply to explore what we do all of this for.

What I Have Been Up To

As I had posted on Twitter, my house looks like I am back in college. I have so much going on that I have bought 12 spiral notebooks to track everything.

Notebook 1 -  Is for my personal coaching sessions - which are starting to find a groove. Tonight I listed opportunities for self improvement. The list is still growing. It is both humbling and hopeful. Nothing that I am listing is a surprise and in fact I could offer all kinds of hows and whys I have certain behavior habits. However the hopeful part is that with acknowledgment and willingness to work on improvement - life can only get better.

Notebook 2 - Business Finance - we are not thinking small with this company - never have. But now it is so important that I really wrap my hands around how to make this company financially healthy so that it can grow big and strong.

Notebooks 3 and 4 and 5 are our product offerings - we have listed out 11 unique offerings that can be offered ala carte or as part of a larger scope of work, not including consulting. I have defined each offering and written out the needs analysis and qualification stages for each offering, but now I am working on very specific project management steps for each project as well as roles and responsibilities for the team that would be involved.

Notebook 6 - Future offerings that we have identified

Notebook 7 - Community work such as Enterprise 2.0, AECF, and TAG's social network

Notebook 8 - Overall roles and responsibilities, policies and procedure, and overall guidelines for the company.

Notebook 9 - The 4 P's for Concept Hub and how we can improve in each area.

Notebooks 10 and 11 Notes for self improvement in areas such as sales, communications, and management/leadership.

Notebook 12 -  Family Activities - now that summer is coming up, there is a lot more to keep up with and the kids are so different now that it is hard to keep up with the goals and needs of them both as well as overall family activities.

Besides ALL of that I am working on a number of proposals, and ongoing client projects.

I am also still speaking quite a bit, though I have not been promoting those engagements as much. I recently spoke for the GA Department of HR and the Mac User Group. This week I am speaking for the National Volunteer Health Association as well as leading a discussion at the Enterprise 2.0 workshop. On April 9 I will be in South FL  running a workshop during the day and am the keynote dinner speaker for the Broward County Human Resource Association. I am speaking at Flourishing Forum on April 17, I believe I am slotted to speak at the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce on April 29 and I am teaching a class for the GA Center for Nonprofits on May 14th.

Alright - I am exhausted - going to bed now....but I leave you with a quote - because I know you have been missing them...and look it's a sports quote too!

If you are bored with life, if you don't get up every morning with a burning desire to do things - you don't have enough goals.

Lou Holtz - The only coach in NCAA history to ever lead six different colllege teams to postseason bowl games, and a man who also won a national championship and "coach of the year" honors