Tidbits and balance / URL + IRL #SMCSFblog - Day30 (last day!)

Last evening we had another meeting from URL to IRL. Another initiative from the #SlashGen group but this time the theme was #TeaAddictParis.

The slash Gen is a group of people from the slash generation: any age, we aren't X or Y generation, but slash. We have many lives, many passions and occupations, we aren't mono work expertise or whatever. We are from Paris and other parts of France or Europe too.

We picked the tea lovers and met for a tea party at the Kusmi tea flagship on Champs Elysées. Great address great tea great meeting and talking.

We had good tea, good conversation, we met people whom we knew from Facebook Twitter or who we have met in other slash Gen meeting and didn't have the time to talk with.

I'm sure this format will happen again, like first part of the evening, those who had meetings for diner could go to both events.

The theme this time was tea so a person from Kusmi team gave us a brief tea lesson. Green tea, black tea, red tea. Combinations, spicies, flowers. Smelling - we could smell the flavour or some teas. Great to get decided and buy some new tea I hadn't bought before.

The conversation were about every kind of subject. Most of the time linked to digital.

It was again the opportunity for me to discuss with someone how to use some social media, for your personal branding. Publish information about articles you read, make public your expertise. Use these media to build your online image, set up your own editorial line (for your blog, twitter TL, your scoopit interface.

All these social media tools can help you show your expertise and even operate a change in your professional life.

I told some friends' stories linked with RH and blogs social media. It had happened before, before Twitter and others, during the "golden era" of blogging (2005-2006) we used to have meetings of bloggers (Paris Carnet, blog apéro...) for bloggers in general but also with a HR baseline, bloggers who were blogging about their expertise and looking for a job with recruiter bloggers, for networking and even to really find a job.

Once during one of these HR evening I got a meeting for a friend, who wasn't there but I met a recruiter who got interested for her profile. 

For myself the interest then was to increase my network and help me change carreers. It did happened.

Meeting in real life and online with people who have the same interest as you (network, digital) is really interesting to confront your ideas, feelings, exchange about your actual job, what is working good, bad, what you could change to improve it.

IRL meetings have the same importance for me as the URL meetings with these nice people from SMC South Florida. Reading their posts, comments and commenting myself gives me insights for my professional way of viewing things. It is even more important for me to get to know what is going on in another place. The way we do digital in France probably isn't the same as they do in the States , in this case in Florida. I learn about other tools I discover other professional and other way of thinking. I discover new ideas, tools, and most important of all, people.

My meetings with my #SlashGen friends in real life and with my #SMCSF friends are very rich experiences and rewards me with lots, tons of ideas and new perspectives regarding the digital world in which I work.

These words can be a kind of summary for these 30 days we've been blogging. Ideas, interesting people, events, rich writing/reading.

It isn't in my culture but as I'm sharing these 30 day blog challenge with a group of mostly Norh Americans and that this week end is Thanksgiving (the exact date was on Thursday 28th) on this last day of blogging I thank all the URL friends for sharing their views , photos, videos, texts with all of us. And I hope one day we will get to IRL - I tell you one day I'll go to one of your local meetings.

Let's keep on the move!

Content and engagement #SMCSFblog - Day29

The first Adobe social breakfast about social media took place today. The purpose is to talk about SM use, how brands should and are using it, etc etc etc.

There were three presentations scheduled this morning. 

After a welcome from Adobe France as we were in their offices, Jeremy Waite (Adobe's social media strategist) talked about the main subejct and the social media trends for 2014. He identifies 14 but presented the 5 most important in his opinion.

From his speech I highlight that a community is not only people with accounts on social media network but people with a common interest for a subject. They can get together on one of the huge tools that we know or on small dedicated tools. The important is that they share the passion for the same topic.

It is important to collect data and really use it. Data will enable brands to predict the future and they'll probably stop doing test and learn as data will give the trend. 

Secondly the Marketing Director of MasterCard and the Director of social media strategy agency in charge of the brand's campaign presented their view of how and what a brand should do online and their use case of the campaign #PricelessParis (exceptional experiences in Paris).

The main idea I retained is that content is important to create and engage your community.

Then came Twitter's Director for France who talked about the immediacy of Twitter and the possibility to reach many people in a precise period of time - to benefit from a certain type of audience and engage with them.

A brand should plan campaigns and presence online when it is needed to be there. 

Organize campaigns for your target on Twitter during a game - on an important game/event a tweet can reach people all over the world (like a game to guarantee a place in the next coming World Cup or Euro Cup).

Be there and be prepared to seize the opportunity like Oreo did when power shortage happened during last Superbowl.

He was seemingly selling a new twitter service about Tv ads but the subject is very much interesting. A brand has to plan ad during the broadcast of a film series combining the Tv ad which you planned to broadcast at à certain time with the tweeting of this same ad (or simular that you planed) on twitter.

The key message was plan your presence on Twitter when the audience you want to reach is there (like those who can't sleep and tweet with #WhyICantSleepAtNight

Main point: engage live.

We have more than 5 senses #SMCSFblog - Day28

I read an article in portuguese today published by one school of DeRose Method about 10 unknown senses.
I looked for the same article in english and didn't find exactly the same but a similar one.

Scientists say that we have 9-10 senses and even some studies say that we have 21!

Reading the article we find that some senses that we thought were one are in fact 2 (like pain isn't the sens of touch eventhough we may feel pain through the touching).

I just found it interesting to think about this we don't know our bodies completely, we don't know all about our selves. Until the last day of our lives we can discover interesting about us. This is not personality that we don't know a 100% neither.

We should all have a sensé of giving and thankfulness and gratitude. It is thought it can Côme with our culture and the way we are raised. It would´however be great if it was also a sense.
(But it would be awkward if people loose it for any reason. Like sometimes people don't feel pain on heat etc).

Special thoughts to SMCSF readers on this Thanksgiving!

We are little dusts in the universe.

Working identity #SMCSFblog - Day27

On last night theorical classes my method's master (I do more than yôga!) said that if we work with what we love we don't count hours and we will ne able to work all the time, even  7 days a week because we love it.

Certainly possible.

This assumption is kind of joining the book I'm reading at the moment about Working identity. 

I'm still in chapter one but I already know from the couple of examples given so far one can achieve different kinds if carreer shift.

From a total change (a psy who became a buddhist monk) to changes of angle (from management a software company to consulting on organizational issues).

In the book it's very much about people who arrives at a certain stage of their professional life and feel that they want something else.

But don't know what.

It should give some keys to realize the change, which can be simple or complex. The point is to discover what you want to do.

I'm curious to read the next examples of carreer change.

Then on Facebook I read some personal changes:

- someone annonced he is in a relationship and changed his status (I'd never thought this person would do this on Facebook, like, he is not a teenager... He is dad of a teen)

- someone is on holidays and having fun in NY (with all my respect.... Bit...h. But I love you. I wanna be there)

- someone asked her friends to test her marketing campaign for her company because it is the result of her big project

- my virtual friends from Social Media Club South Florida are as usual active online and with many useful insight for me - and I also discover new tools, you know Old Continent view versus new Wolrd try out and creation of many intersmesting stuff (there are interesting stuff over here, but I can have easily access to it)

This last part make me think: it should ne interesting to take part at SMC Paris. But to enter one must be co-opted.

Who wants to co-opt me?

Concepts #SMCSFblog - Day26

Tonight is DeRose theorical lesson.

Conclusion: if you love what you do you don't count the hours or comercial day or week-end. 

You will find the time you need to do what you want, like, love.

Few words on Curation for communication and marketing #SMCSFblog - Day25

This morning I went to a meeting conference-breakfast about curation in companies.

The sponsors were a variety of companies/webagencies. The main speaker was the founder of Scoop.it.

It is a very interesting subject and it meets my views of communication online. There are plenty of tools that can help companies in this issue.

A company which curates content if there is a strategy and editorial line to follow, if there's consistency and regularity this activity can increase online visibility and contribute to notoriety.

This kind of tool can be used for a kind of topic watch and the company which publishes bécotes part of somebody's watch. 

I decided then to reactivate my scoopit account. Well, it's not working anymore, I had to create a new one.

Lot to think. Must add this also to my palette of tools.

Like Rebel Mouse, can be a good tool to gather your/one's information in one place (account).

Socializing IRL or it's all about coffee #SMCSFblog - Day24

A few days ago I wrote about my routine sunday coffee.

Today is sunday and I had coffee at chez Thierry.

Before getting there we've been to the market get some fresh vegetables and fruits.

Then we went to the butcher's as usual.

The butcher's shop is a small one, local shop. On sundays his wife and one of his daughters work with him.

Today none of the daughters were there, they were busy somewhere else. In general one of the daughters help keeping the cashier (I often remember when I was a little 7-8 yo girl and used to play shop-keeper with a cousin, the cashier would be someone else, not me or my cousin but an imaginary colleague called Helen, yes, not as in portuguese, Helena, but in english, Helen. We'd shout to her Heeeeeeelen 2 loafs of bread and 3 oranges bla-bla-bla).

But today none of them were there.

The butcher, 'our' George (you know, je reminds us of G Clooney) served us and without any daughter keeping the cashier he got the cash too.

When he was saving goodbye he said 'see you later at Thierry's. You for the coffee and I go for the appetizer before lunch'. 

It is true, he noticed that we go after lunch.

We went as usual to Thierry's. We sat by the bar. Got our coffees. A few minutes alter 'our George' got in.

He then told Thierry that he'd pay for our coffees. We said no, no need.

We were so touched by this. He insisted for it.

We got some unexpected attention and care in this crazy world.

Amazing.

We told each other that next time we'll go there we'll pre-pay some beer for him.

We told Thierry that it was really nice and very kind. He nodded and said that he is a very kind person.

Neat.

Now we also share our drinks in the neighborhood. Cool area this one we are living. It goes totally against the reputation of the big city Paris.

Saturday #streetart #SMCSFblog - Day23

The other night, in Paris, a little street behind Odéon. La most of human size - I was walking down the street and from a bit far I thought there was some funny person starting at me.....

Show me who follow you and I'll show who you are? @SMCSFblog - Day22

I haven't yet stopped to really analyze my followers.
I haven't done a list about it.
I may do one day.

Or not.

When it happens it amazes me to read the notifications emails annoucing my new followers.

I'm looking for the relationship between all my tweets and my new followers sports specialists.
Or those financial specialists (liek ecconomy magasins, of even forex traders!!!).

I never - I think - post about this stuff.
Or maybe I do and don't notice.
How wouldn't I notice???
Hacked account?

I publish in three languages, a variety of subjets, some a bit pro (mostly from LinkedIn, sometimes RT in Twitter), some articles I read linked to my pro activity. I tweet or RT stuff about food, travellers, book, yoga, from time to time some silly stuff. I follow astronauts and some spacec engines flying/rolling on Mars.

I do follow some sports accounts though. I follow the brazilian team's volleyball account (female and male teams, and the official account for the next Olympic Games in Rio).
So ok for the sports part.

It may have happen ages ago that I RT a tweet about some kind of ecconomical informaiton. but I don't do this a lot. So why people continue coming?
I haven't figured out.

So, for those who want to know who I am by analyzing my followers you will see that... it's really me!

Eccletic, interestied by dozens of different subjects, passionate about the world, arts, photo, trips, people.

And beefore I forget, this is a good occasion to do so : WELCOME all of you new ald "old" twittos of my followers!

User club for editor's tools #SMCSFblog - Day21

Today I spend the day inside a tower with a huge clock.

I'd never imagine that there were offices there.
I mean yes I was aware that there would be offices there but as it is in the building of a train station I always thought that it was for state's offices (as the train company in France is a national one).

A surprise was to enter the building just underneath the station's clock! (Look at the pic). The elevator is in the tower and the offices are on the building to the left hand side of the picture.
I took the picture after leaving, with my iPhone, so it isnt' the best with this light.

Cool place to work. Smart. I work in a train station.
Oh, you're in the train business? Oh no, not me. I work in new technology.
Ho-ho.

I was there to spend the day at an user club on behalf of my work.
The meeting was organized by the editor of the tool so that users can start getting together, exchange about the way they use, are using or will use the product.
The editor will then get feedback from their customers and not only from their technical partners. It is a good thing as we are the ones who are buyng the solution. Their technical partners sometimes buy also but it is to help the end user (us, the companies) get their version.

This kind of meeting is a great idea so we can share our best practices and learn from each other as users. It was our first meeting and we all want to go further, customers and the editor. We think we can share a lot, provide feedback between us, prevent errors as we are sharing our experience) and help the editor improve the product for us. This is the interest of the editor too. And to know if the customers are happy or not. If not what he should do to make them happy again (and continue buying more licences).

Editors should think of it, not only to drive the meetings like organizing huge mass meeting for every one but also encourage this kind of group.
I have been to other user clubs in which I think the wrong name was used, it was more general presentations than exchange beteween users.
Editors should start doing this be this editor a big company or not.
In this case today it was a quite big company (not an european one on top of that) with customers worldwide.
We are their guinea pigs and if the club works and our and their feeling/feedback is positif they'll organize other user groups in other countries and spread the word.
the first feedback, the end of the day wrap up the result is positif. For both sides.
The group, we planned to continue sharing online and meet physically twice a year.
Let's see how far we will get! I'm sure we will go far away. We're the best!

Girls have a lot on their heads - hair but brains too! @SMCSFblog - Day20

Christmas is around the corner.Think about it.

Personal brainstorm on business in social media #SMCSFblog - Day19

A few ideas about social media in business.

It's good inside your company. People get to talk more to each other. A pro social media can help reducing the email volume - that costs a lot to IT team (money and tech, problem solving).

Good use also externally, to engage with your costumers and prospects. But not only.

In every occasion, and use, think of analytics. Good to know and follow your ROI. Also in internal use, to know if you should keep the social media tool or not.

Market your company image - engage with customers and prospects but also with your employees.

Give information - for both, inside et outside.

Be there.

You may even be able to well online.

To be developped. Soon.

10 historical tweets #SMCSFblog - Day18

Just a few minutes ago I was following #MAVEN2Mars on Twitter and at the same time lloking for some news regarding the crazy man who fired at people at a french newspaper and had been tracked by the police earlier today.

(And the police haven't gotten this gunman, the guy is still running free outside somewhre. they followed him inside Paris, like shooting and so on, through the area called La Défense and through the Champs Elysées. I felt really safe to go home, as I pass by these two places on my commutting path...).

At the same time I was chatting with a friend through Facebook messenger - I was in my parisian bus going home and she is at a gorgous place in place, she exchanged grey Paris to this paradise of Canoa Quebrada. While chatting with her I missed my stop.

So when I finally got home I continued going through my TL and read a tweet about the most famous tweets. So I decided to write this entry.
Even if the blog post is in french, the 10 top tweets are in english so you guys may find your way through.

The 10 most important / famous / historical tweets are these ones on this link.

According to this french post the historical 10 tweets are:

1 and 2 - The LT of Bin Laden track
3 - The first tweet of Pope Francis
4 - Obama's tweet and pic "4 more years" - almost 800k re-tweets!
5 - Obama's stop shutdown tweet
6 - First tweet from Mars by Curiosity
7 - The Us Airways plane crash in the Hudson
8 - The first tweet from space - from an ISS astronaut (by my preferred were Chris Hadfield tweets and his video, which he tweeted the link)
9 - The royal baby birth
10 - the first tweet ever:

Yummy sunday, sunday market day as every sunday #SMCSFblog- Day17

Looking for a new entry for today.

Not much to say about anything.

Well, yes, there's always something to talk about. The topic depends on your brains awaken capacity (when it is awake).

At this very moment, nothing much comes through my brain.

Below me on the other floor, my teen neighbor is practising her flute lessons.

On the side, same floor, the not-teen-anymore-but-behaves-like-one is listening to a mix of Black Sabbah, AC/DC, some folklorical song from Tibet with some acid house beat.

Yeah I can listen  to the flute sound in the middle of this.

Sunday. Market plus stop over at our butcher's, we say 'chez George'. The one of the coffee ad. "Our" Geroge , who's not named like this eventhough it is a french name. Then stop over chez Thierry for our usual sunday coffee.

It was a hard time, we had to try to talk about soccer. I don't care about this but yesterday or the day before France's team lost against Ukrania. They need to win 3x0 next game to get a ticket to Brazil's world cup. No one believe they're going to win.

That was the topic at the bar today. I looked at the streets, more interesting than soccer.

Coffee was good as today was the first quite cold day, like +5° C. Winter isn't knocking at the door. It is here! Brrrrrrr

Sunday market with a taste of home: among other stuff, I bought 2 beautiful avocados, they look like the ones I buy in Brazil, two persimmons (just had one, quite tasty as home), bananas and green lemon. 

This is what I call a yummy 'homy' market day.

Linked even under water #SMCSFblog - Day16

Few words.

An image can tell everything.

Phone freak - or 1000% connected #SMCSFblog - Day15

BBY freak for work.

Gain time.

I-something freak for all the rest.

I need my daily dose of connection.

Today it's with an iPhone but it's not excluded that an android may enter my life one day.

Durant the day, if I'm not holding my BlackBerry pro I'm holding my iPhone (mostly on lunch time. To sait for the elevator. To go up or down in the elevator. To wait for coffee/tea/chocolate coming out from the machine.

Checking.

Mails, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, whatever.

Then home.

I get my iPad.

Checking again.

Writing (notes, blog notes). Skyping. Publishing (on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram....). Playing a game. Getting desperate with ly bank acccount savings level. Getting info for the next week end. Watching a stupid series.

Always in my bag, pocket, at hand.

Can't be far away.

So from time to time I need to go through rehab for a week end or so. Even did a whole week rehab.

While in Lisbon.

Ooooh so lovely city! Sun. Nice places. Nice people. Nice food. No need for smartphones.

Her, hum, yes, you need... To take a couple of pictures when your camera stayed at the hotel for some reason.

And you may decide to publish a pic or two.

Ready for the next rehab section.

The BBY syndrome or commutting online - #SMCSFblog - Day14

I don't know if it is the same in big corporations in other countries.

In France there's a belief about BBY for business (companies) and the other kind of telephone companies aren't secure stuff.

Once you are in the middle of this, working in a big company and being equiped with a BBY you may keep or not your personal mobile.
I think a few years ago many people used to leave their perosnal mobiles behind once they got a professional mobile. Nowadays the trend seems to have changed - the price of providers subscriptions having changed it's more easy economically to maintain a personal account.

So, back to BBY.

A call it a syndrome because once you get your very beautiful and amazing BBY you start finding excuses to use it for professional reasons once you're not at work.
Yeah I said professional.
Like while you're commuting, start reading your emails arrived earlier (if you're not driving of course), or the day before after you left your office, or on your way home. You start typing an email that you will send once you get to your office.
Same thing as when you take office documents to read/work on while commuting for not doing it at home (of course there are people who work also when they get at home).

But then I ask myself...

If I have a BBY for work and a personal smartphone, they both have internet access... why take the BBY from the bottom of my bag instead of my smartphone and do personal stuff? Like those messages that you haven't sent to your friends, look for information on your next vacation, or book a diner, read the papers, read a book (digital book if not a paper book), whatever.

From time to time I have to hit gently my hands and put the BBY back in my bag and do something else.

I mean it is not forbidden to work in these situations, but I'd say from time to time, not as a routine.
We can say we gain time but well, you can also gain time doing some private things.
That's why it is for me it is a kind of BlackBerry syndrome. Youknow you can do it when you'll get to your office but you do it before (or just after you leave).
Or even when you trat a great load of daily messages you start going over them... on sunday so on monday morning your inbox in quite clean.

So, I started playng Candy Crush... yhaaa! - but I've already quit it. Now most of the times I read, listen to my music and daydream about my next vacations, or read a book. From time to time my office commutes with me, but in general I'm still out of the office on my way to and from.


Whatever I tell myself... I always end up doing a quick check in the morning like "what this new day will bring to me".

Now it's late. Let me check my BlackBerry and go for diner/out/gym/to sleep.

Few thoughts about ommnichannel vs omniretail - #SMCSFblog - Day13

We are always talking about omnichannel, we all have to have omnichannel, reach diferent customers with the same (?) content, publish one and reach XX channels.

True or good thing to do.

In my opinion it isn't a good idea to duplicate content. Or you publish once and it spreads itself on your digital ecosystem or you publish different content on different supports/media.

Publish through your usual back end and displays the content on the classic website, on the mobile version, even on the app. Publish wherever you are.

However it is not beacause you publish multi-channel content that you are going to sell on every channel. unless you are thinking omniretail. Sell on all the channel yo can reach.
Give the possibility to your customers to buy your product on the channel he/she choose.

The time where the company force the customer to buy on online shop or POS is in my opinion finished.

Companies should gve the customer the chcoice of the channel and offer all the channels. If it is adapted to its market or its trade.
If the target is to sell you have to let the customer buy. Putting barriers on the process onf buying isn't the best thing to do.

You have to go where your customers are. If they are online you have to go online.

Working on the digital world it's sad to see companies which aren't that sale-offer-friendly. It will come soon (otherwaise they're going ot disappear and even be eaten by pure players).

To get there a company must set up their digital strategy. Not only go online because everybody is going but because it is good for their trading.
Then the company should get strcutred to do it. Gather teams, talents, persuade the internal users, build the road map, identify investments to do. And most of all, the top management must be convinced. It's the only way to take this digital transformation we are talking about here.

In fact being omnichannel may be a good opportunity to become omniretail.

Now, let's all go do our homework.

Life on social media after death or awkward personal branding #SMCSFblog - Day12

No dark ideas with in my mind.

I don't know why I'm thinking about this today (well I know...)

Life on social media after death.

These last 2 years some people that I know, from work, family, sadly passed away.

It's a loss.

They go away but their souvenir stay with us.

And many times their social media account stay too.

I can't get hold of the post I published on Facebook when my elder brother passed away.

And I should check which improvements were made since then (he passed away about a year and a half ago, a little bit more).

People go and their accounts stay. 

Their presence online is still present. All the good things you wrote stay accessible. As well as all the sh*t.

If there's no will with the instructions (and all the passwords!!) how can one close the deceased account?

When I checked this last year most companies didn't have a special policy about this.

Some were starting to offer an online will.

Of course you can contact the administrators to inform but there's no published process on how to do.

If you don't have the instructions (+ passwords) the account may stay live for ever. And outlive the person.

Some people use the account to post notes on the birthday of the person's departure. I don't feel confortable about this.

Some families close the person's account and keep the memories outside the www.

I don't know if it is good or not.

I think I wouldn't like my social media accounts to out live me.

Gotta write my online will one of these days.

Material (digital) world #SMCSFblog - Day11

When I was a little girl I wasn't a big girl.

Logic. That said...

There's was this song in which we can hear a robot singing Living in a material world Living in a material world .
Well we aren't speaking about the same "material".

I didn't have a camera for myself, I didn't have my own phone (mobiles weren't yet for everybody).
All the pics we have at home were made by mom or dad. Or osmeone else in the family/friends who'd have a camera.

Now we all have cameras. Even little kids. And everybody have smartphones. Even little kids.
More: a bunch of us have tablets and go around with them.

I'd say a digital freaky-not-thaaat-geeky (just a little bit). I have 2 smartphones (one personal, one for work), a computer, a tablet, 2 cameras (digital and analog).
I can use all of them to take pictures while I'm on the go - not all of them at the same time.

However I'm not (yet) going out everytime with my tablet to take pics during my holidays. I do take pictures with my tablet mostly when I'm at a conference, taking notes and photos.

I find it curious and amazing how fast people are getting digital or better saying mobile-digital. People of any age.

I was about to say why use your tablet to take pictures while you are out? You are having fun, take your real camera with you for "real" photos.

However if you're not a camera person you may not have a camera. But if you are a digital person with you traveler's guide in your tablet for reading off-line you will have the tablet in question with you while you'll be strolling around the city.
Moreover there are some nice devices with which you can take "real" photos.

Anyway I have a sepcial bag for my camera. I don't have a sepcial bag (again, not yet) for my tablet.
I may need to go shopping soon.

Happy (late) sunday #SMCSFblog - Day10

Up date: so sad it got stuck in my phone and I saw it just now... it's yesterday's post!

Google+ and what else? #SMCSFblog - Day9

Gosh I have to confess enventhough it's not thursday (the day to confess things in France on Twitter, the hastag is jeudiconfession. this will be saturdayconfession!)

I confess... I'm not very keen on Google+.
I don't feel it user friendly, at least it isn't Jussonline friendly.
Okay we can share articles, posts, images, build circles, meet people, excahnge info, tipcs, network and so on.
But I don't feel like.

I do this through Twitter, Facebook and other LinkedIn. My little brain doesn't get to G+.

One point to this is that I don't want to give this also to Mr Google.
Yeah he has my emails accounts, my blogs, my old and first social network - RIP Orkut. I didn't close my account there I couldn't, I left a message saying that people could find me on FB. Now 90% my Orkut friends are on FB. I suppose Orkut is closed now.
What happenned to the 10% left? they stopped social media? Were kidnapped by aliens?

Mr Google have also my documents, my agenda, some events I take part, he gives me some books and knows the translations I ask him to do for me.
I'm resisting to not give him another network.

Resisting, resisting... not very strongly I must confess.

This is the moment of a new confession overlaping the first confession.
Oh boy what is going through my brains lately?

As I'm taking part to this new 30-day blog challenge again I saw that some people from Social Media Club South Florida are using actively their G+ account.
Because of this I activated my profile with my main email address.
There's no point in doing this, if I did it for them they know my by other names/nicknames, my main email address isn't the one I use to blog, tweet or facebookaround.
Gee I'm nuts.

I confess that I did activate another G+ profile too in order to share the articles I write on my other blog about Paris (my personal marketing stuff). It's the one in portuguese, but I'm sure Mr Google will be more than happy to translate it to you english speakers (or any other language). I think I'll even put back the translation feature that I deleted 1 or 2 years ago.)

G+ or not G+?
In order to really decide I like it or not I must use it a little bit.
But I don't want to use. But I'm using.

(Rha! It's normal! I'm girl! We change our minds all day long! ;-)
Next post!

Routine or not routine? #SMCSFblog - Day8

Routine or not routine was a subject we discussed during my yôga classes this week.

I take these classes in a tiny little place, I'm sure it's the only yôga school in a parisian "cave"! Well basement of an old parisian building.

These last months I'm always at the same side, always on the right, I can be close to the teacher or behind someone, but always on this side.
Before the class stared I told the teacher that I was changing sides because I was always at the same side, it is good to change things from time to time.
We then talked about life, routine in our lives, people who do the always the same thing at the same time, take the same path/way to go to places.
I like to change from time to time I feel better. Even in my life it is good to change - furniture from it's place, change the curtains, change home, why note change the country in which I'm living! I've done this before. Twice!

When you do things always the same way they can become automatic and you may not pay attention anymore to them anymore. It is ok to do things automatically like driving. You don't ask yourself questions like "now I'll accelerate", "now I'll look at the mirror"....
However it is good to change things so you are aware of what you are doing and are more concious of what you are doing.
On this case, yôga class, as I've been always practising on the same side I got used with a porch, I can open my arms wide open to do some yôga postures without any problem, no limits!

So before my colleagues arrived I changed sides and went to the left side, close to the wall - watch out your hands! It's 17th century or so stones on the wall! Ouch!
In general we are placed for the class according to our seniority in the practise and to balance male and female energy.
To better organize those present on that day I had to... go back to my usual side for the organization of that class.
The teacher and I laughed of course and I said that I'd try next time

So I went back to the right side, the one close to the little side porch on the picture (not my pic, I got from the school's website).
I was quite happy then.

But yesterday was next time.

I choose again the other side of the room, the left side. As it was the same teacher he remembered what we had discussed two days earlier.
Then he noticed the guy in the left side is always there. He doesn't seem ready yet to try to be placed somewhere else in the class. We talked again with the other people about this. 3 didn't say much and one toally agreed with us it is so good to change things even the way you take to go to the supermarket, sometimes you change and it is longer, so what? You can discover/see different things!

I could stay on the left. And I kept all my skin, no bit of skin went to the stonewall by me.
Yay!

Living online #SMCSFblog - Day7

This morning after a visio conf with a private institution for personal reasons I went on my search for online courses of marketing - I want to improve some skills.

I realized that I live a lot online.

Well I knew that before this morning but it struck there right in the middle of my poor lazy head that not only I spend a lot of time online for networking sometimes to work and now I'm also getting online for personal issues (other than talking to mom) and I'm trying to become an online student.

Online courses are the solution for people like me who don't have the possibility to go to a university/school get some extra courses , short courses, I'm not talking about getting a degree.

The offer has yet to improve. Or the gogos schools should improve their SEO because I don't find a lot. I mean I find some courses but there are a bunch out there that don't seem to be serious enough and don't encourage me to put my money on it.

Living online. Everyday I have (live!) my share of online activity. Follow some people on Twitter (and events, today I followed 2, exchange recipes - yeah last night, with a virtual friends who lives in California), catch up with friends on Facebook , look at nice pics on Instagram, dream of other nice pics on Pinterest, log on blogger to post a note....

Rich online life sied by side with my offline life (I do have one IRL :-)

But I haven't found some little courses on marketing. If anyone have an idea....

Mind mapping my ideas #SMCSFblog - Day6

It's been almost é years that I started mind mapping.
I'm a mapper. A baby mapper though I'm not yet a all time mapper.

It is very useful to take notes during a conference as sometimes the speakers doesn't do a linear speech. Or to build a map for a conference with different speakers. Then each speaker is a topic.

Two images of a conf I went. I kept a diferent color for each speaker.
The first image is the map of the whole conference.





On the second image I opened the subtopics of the "red" speaker.
You can click on the images to enlarge.
 (It's all in french. It's not my best map.)


With the map you can easily put together the ideas.
I like mind mapping too because it is definatly like my ideas: they're aren't linear I go forth and backwards and  taking notes like this allows me to give some space to an idea that appeared later on my thinking.
I started mapping for work too. Like there is a certain number of tasks to do and as you go on doing them you find/discover/think of other tasks to do.
It's useful to follow my team too - each one has their topic and their tasks are the subtopics. And it goes growing bigger and bigger and bigger.

I'm not an expert yet I hope I'll become soon.
I've tried some tools MindJet, MindMaster, SimpleMind... don't have my favorite.

Do you map? Which is your tool?

There's no age to go skyping around #SMCSFblog - Day5

I wrote this last year about my mom.

We've been skyping since then. She is even learning a little bit about solving her techie problems - someone has to help her online (my brother is the usual hotliner, by phone or in person).

We chat online very often, whe chats with me who is overseas, with my brother and his family who are 150km away from her.

As any mom she always caught us doing something we may have said we were not doing. Like when you say you weren't online she will say yes you were - your Skype was online.
Well yes, my account was but it doesn't mean I was there... no way to convince her that my account and me libe our lives separetely (and should we anyway?).

I adore talk to her. It's much better than the phone era. You can show things and not only describe things.
When she buys something, knits something she can show it to me. I can do the same.

The other day she was like a ad-girl telling me the great benefits she is getting from a french body lotion.
(You know the receipe is different from the products made in Brazil as the american products are different as the asian are...)

She will kill me if she ever sees this pic online....

Mom isn't at all on social media, email and skype is enough for her. Google to look for things that interest her, some sites that she goes often.

Last year with my partner we showed our adorable neighbor how to take a picture with an iPhone.
She found it really funny and made us wear hats and take different pictures and show her. She laughed so hard that I got worried she get an attack or something.
This neighbor is today 84 yo.

It's really nice to show tehcnology to open mind old people. They ask interesting questions and sometimes see what you haven't seen. And can have a real good time laughing from their young neighbors (us!) who thing they are showing THE tehcnology - she was just laughing about our stupid faces with her old hats.
Can't show the pictures we deleted all, we didn't keep any for the record!

On the other hand still about Skype it is totally difficult almost impossible to get my teenager niece online.
This 18 yo seem not interested in skyping with old people.
Yeah you have to focus on the conversation. It's much easier to get her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, anywhere but on skype.

So there's no age to skype but when it comes to focus on the conversation some people may need another media to saty focused.

Picturing on social media #personalbranding #SMCSFblog - Day4

I'm an instagramer. Here.

I started ages ago on Fotolog. Then moved on to Flickr.

The account pn Fotolog is completely dead. I used long before I found my online nickname which I use a lot everywhere.
On Flickr I had the pro account, went back to normal account. Pictures are still there. Account may dying little by little.
Unless I wake up one of these days and start publishing there again (before the account is killed by the platform owners).

Instagram is a cool platform. I make most use of my smartphone. Always.
On another blog I write about Paris and what to do round here - have to get to speed cruise there. I'll be there soon.

So on my Instagram account I publish in general pictures of Paris, things I've seen round the city, places I've been to, food. It's not exclusively about Paris but it is 80% about it.

This account contributes to my personal branding plans and willness on writing about this lovely city I live in. There are tons of things to see, do and eat here that even if half of the parisians wrote about the city there still be some place for other people! What attracts our attention is so personal!

A brand can also use this platform for business matters.
It can be used in many ways like showing people working (not my preferred use but have seen this before), the offices, or show an original angle of the brand. Or be useful for contests.

A few weeeks ago I won one of the prizes during the launching campaign of an all on line french bank. You had to publish (or re-publish) a photo with a blue sky and a jury would choose the three best pictures of the day.
The constest run for a few days, the prize was some discount on a online shop (hey I still have tu use my discount code! must not forget). The prize was not much for each winner (but the band had to cash out some euros) but it was profitable for the bank's notoriety.
It was good to me because I got on notoriety as well. And it was useful as well as it was a picture of a bluesky in Paris.

The buzz around the contest made the rest - for the brand.

I sure had fun taking part as like some many other people I'm a geeky-picture-taker-never-going-out-without-my-iphone - I submitted 2 or 3 pics.

Now let me go develop my notoriety, I'll be back in a while.

IRL social media meeting? #SMCSFblog - Day3

I'm not a person of routine. I like when things change.
I'm used to some routine like going to places, doing some things, eating some special things.

(Leave the incoherence aside please.)

As many sundays as I can I go for a coffee after lunch at a café-brasserie near my home sweet home.
The sunday routine is in fact go to the market in the morning (I'll write about it another day), have lunch after cooking whatever we decided to buy for lunch and in order to avoid sunday siesta we go out for a coffee.
We go chez Thierry. No it's not the name of the brasserie but it is his place.
In general we sit at the counter, the best place to be if you want to know what is going.

Thierry knows us. When we go in, we get our Bonjour Monsieur Madame, deux petits cafés?
And voilà. We are part of the brasserie's landscape. 

I sit by the counter. I get my iPhone from my pocket and do my check-in - hey I must maintain may mayor position! I lost my mayorship once, I was on holidays and someone check-in more than I did. I got it back.

I published the first picture of the place on foursquare, our coffees half gone.

Now other people have published theirs, even showing theirs faces. someone published a photo showing Thierry. Nice guy.

I check through a social media. Being there on sunday is also checking in real life social network. When we don't come for a while the boss ask if we've been away.

This is one of our social activity on sundays. Sitting there and seeing people coming and going, chatting with the boss, le patron.

Every sunday we check what is going around. We don't really talk between us, those who are sitting at the bar, but we acknowledge our presence. From time to time there is a topic that arouses everybody and we end up having a 5-10 minutes chat on the counter.

For instance during the demonstrations for the marriage for all we talked a little bit. An old man said that he went to show that he didn't agree with this law. He said that he didn't care really, people can get married with whoever they want. It's just that since he was young he always protests against the governement, no matter the subject. Always against. This is his principle. Then get a beer aftewards.

We listen to the conversations around us. It's kind of real life tweets.

Two people are talking about the soccer championship and that nights match at the nearby stadium (where are close to the parisian soccer team stadium).
The retired politician tlaks to Thierry, about the weather, TV, public work on the roads.
The retired diplomat is just there, sometimes he has lunch in the restaurant room, smetimes he stays at the bar, and have something his appetite is looking for. Last time we sa him by our side he was having fries, charcuterie and pickles. I don't think his doctor would agrred with this... He nods his head from time to time when I think he is hearing the conversation. As if he was hitting the button like...
The butcher is always there with his second and sometimes his wife, having his beer and fries. Thierry gives him his order for the weekly meat. And that it. they write it inside their heads, not on paper. It must be like this for years.
The round the corner florist, once a week he puts a new fresh bouquet on by the cashier. He enters, says "hello all", put the new flowers in the water, says "goodbye all" and leaves.

We chat about our personal matters, we recognize the passers by, we pay, we leave - we have finished our coffee long ago. 

And then sunday goes by.

Digital backpack? #SMCSFblog Day2

I read this article today - http://slate.me/17wLw1P - interesting reading about one or two straps backpacking at school.

I personnnaly grew up with one strap as two were for others, not cool or sports people (so, when I was in my sports phase when I used to play volleyball a lot I'd wear two straps.

At the end of the article I started wondering about the digital natives.

Other than this switch from one to two occuring some time ago nowadays they must use two straps. They need their hands free for their portable consoles, tablets and other portable devices.

And grown ups like us will use two straps too, smartphones, tablets and other devices while our laptop is in the backpack.

And you ? One or two?

Couple of tips on #personalbranding #SMCSFblog Day1

As first post of this 30 day series of post I though about personal branding.

From time to time some people cross our path and we end up talking about blogs, social media, what is all about it.
Often these people have accounts but they don't use because they don't know what to talk about.
A couple of weeks ago I took part in a conversation about this, what to do with my twitter account?

If you are one of these people you can use your account for anything.

You can tell your life if you want.

However I think it's more interesting if you talk about topics that interest you.

More over on this digital period in the world publishing you start taking care of your presence online.

So a few tips to start tweeting.

You're not in the digital business but you find twitter interesting and don't know what to do (I'm repeating myself.... Lazy brains?).

You're a specialist in a field let's say sciences. You don't want (and maybe shouldn't!) talk about your work.

You can talk about your field in general! You can read articles online and publish the link (use bitly or any other tool to shrink it) and a little comment about what you read - " interesting point of view" "original angle for this subject" etc.

Retweet interesting tweets from your TL.

Make sure you follow people of your field.

Publish regularly, if you can once a day. It's a tweet, it's not long writing.

Doing so in a few time you maybe seen as an specialist of your field. People interested by the same topics will start "hearing" you.

On top of that if your company is going through a digital transformation they will certainly notice you and you could even start doing something else inside your company. New job without changing company.

So stop thinking what to do, start doing it!