MrAndrewBradley

In just a few years I went from having a Facebook account to actually using it (now with more than 700 friends), signing up for Twitter (my first tweet was on October 16, 2008, since then I have "tweeted" nearly 1600 times and nearly 450 people seem to care) and now I attend "TweetUps" throughout Sacramento and Placer County , have joined a Meetup group or two, have been featured in several news stories just because I use social media, perhaps most importantly I have been fortunate enough to meet hundreds of great people from throughout the Sacramento region. Mashable.com declared today, June 30th " Social Media Day ," so like any good member of the Social Media universe I attended the official Sacramento party at News10 (KXTV) .  The event, which included lunch, was sold out within hours (tickets were free, but limited to the first 75 to sign up) and it was a great opportunity to meet the people I follow on Twitter, talk to friends I have met via

In July 2008 my dad and I began a multi-year process, rebuilding the fences at "Camp Bradley" (aka their house in the Pocket area - yes it is cool enough to be listed on Wikipedia - of Sacramento) .  In September of the same year, we worked on a second portion of fence, today we finished the third section (total of five sections for those keeping score). Although my dad started digging holes and setting posts weeks ago, we finally had the time (ie they were not on a 17-day Panama Canal cruise, we were not at an out of state wedding or at the Bradley Lodge ) to demo the old fence (now at the Sacramento County Landfill and cut up for kindling wood) and put up the new fence. Thankfully we purchased pre-assembled 8-foot sections from HD Supply to help the process go quickly, but it still took about four hours to complete and we finished just in time to watch nearly the entire USA v. Ghana game (sadly the USA did not advance).  One day my parents house will have all new f

For about a year my parent's have had a 17 foot long SunSetter Awning in their garage from Costco.com .  It was not until about two weeks ago that we had a way to transport it from " Camp Bradley " (aka my parent's house) to the Bradley Lodge .  On Friday night we strapped ladders and the massive awning to the new 2010 Ford Expedition (currently nicknamed the "behemoth") and headed to the Lodge. Luckily KFBK did not have to report that there was an awning or ladders along I-5 or Highway 4 because of us and we made it to the Lodge safe and sound, with everything still tied (and duct taped) tightly to the roof rack.  Saturday we took the final measurements, found studs (not easy to do when you are drilling into wood siding) and with only one trip to Ace Hardware got the awning up and working on the first try.  Now our deck not only has umbrellas, tables and a BBQ, but a gorgeous awning to provide shade, all at the touch of a button.  After the awning was s

  Photo Credit | Dennis McCoy - Sacramento Business Journal After you hear the bad news, you go into an initial state of shock, then you pull yourself together, get organized, get motivated, set a goal and make every effort to reach the prize. That is my story, my plan and my hope.  After being laid off in September I did not know what to expect, I was in a state of panic, yet had a calmness come over me too, I had no idea what to do next, I packed my things, reached out to my network of business contacts and friends, updated my resume , searched for jobs, applied to jobs and waited.  Now, although I have not heard the words "you're hired," I have a plan, I am taking action and I am staying positive.  I wake up daily with a purpose, I look for jobs, I keep in touch with my network (with calls, in person and through social media),  I try to attend at least one networking event per week ( SacTweetUp , PlacerBizTweetUp , SPRA luncheons/mixers and IABC luncheons), I

Well okay, I didn't actually walk down the red carpet, but I did attend a wedding at Folsom's Video Products Distributors (VPD) on Saturday.  The facility comes complete with "theatre," movie posters in the hallways (and bathrooms) and a gorgeous back patio area that overlooks part of Folsom Lake and is perfectly designed for both premiere parties and weddings.  Ben and Amy walked down the aisle to say "I do" and many from around the world were there, some coming from as far away as South Africa and England (a major feat since England and the USA played each other in World Cup soccer earlier in the day ... check out this amazing re-creation of the game ).  The wedding was great, the party was great, the food was great and my favorite sign, "beware of rattlesnakes" was present.

My parent's and I flew up to Oregon on Saturday to attend my cousin's wedding near Portland , Oregon.  As we flew via Southwest , I had a funny thing come to mind, despite all of the planes I have flown on I don't think I have every flown north.  I have always driven to Oregon, Washington and Canada http://www.hellobc.com/ .  Anyway, it was great to finally make a flight to the north, not the south, east or west as I am so used to.  When we arrived in Portland I was in awe by how nice their airport was and I later read that is one of the top airports in traveler satisfaction, hopefully when the new terminal opens up in Sacramento sometime next year travelers will say the same thing about ours. Our hotel was great, even had a Baja Fresh nearby where we ate lunch.  Then it was off to the wedding/reception at the beautiful home of the groom's parents.  The property was beautifully landscaped (check out the pictures below) and even had lake behind it. The wedding