Sacramento's Social Media Day at News10

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 Twitter and learn more about how News10 is using social media to better connect with the community and in essence "give the station back to the community." Not only did we interact with people in the room, we also used Skype to talk to some friends across the pond at Manchester, England's Studio Skylab. To top of a great afternoon, we were granted a full studio tour, which included heading into the studio where they film every newscast, learning about the control room (most of the studio cameras are now automated so they can focus on having more crews and reporters in the field covering the news) and taking a peek at the newsroom (aka the room where all my phone calls go when I pitch a story).

Although not an exhaustive list of those that attended the event these are a few of the people I recommend following on Twitter that were at the event (please do not be offended if I didn't include you, there are lots of you ... if you really feel left out, please DM or @ me and I will add you to the list).

@alejandroreyes - Sacramento's top Social Media expert (in my opinion) also organizes SacTweetUps.
@SuzannePhan, @mponto, @queenkv, @willframpton, @RYamamotoNews10, @timgeraghtynews & of course @News10_CA - all great people at News10
@Lesley3fold - works at 3Fold Communications
@ashleegadd - works at the Citizen Hotel, also has a great blog
@laurenedvalson - works in the advertising department at the Sacramento Bee
@ScribbyKitty - works at the Zoo and tweets for them @SacramentoZoo
@Karen_Speaks - works at the Sacramento International Airport as their PIO
@SacComedy - interested in all things commedy, follow him
@Lucia316 - works for in the mortgage industry
@SacramentoMarko - GM at a Sacramento area hotel
@mariecfeldman - does some great video work
@AlliMFuller - works the League of California Cities and formerly the United Way
@lttlewys - this mom also has a great blog
@plumaslaker - state worker, social media "networker"
@Karenof4 - a mom and a blogger, but not a "mommy blogger"
All of the tweets from the event can be found at #smdaynews10

Again, if you're not on the list, please do not be offended, just let me know and I will add you ... these are just a few of the many people whose tweets I read daily and spoke with at today's event.

News10 Celebrates Social Media Day (text and additional pictures, including one of me "live tweeting" from the event)
UPDATE: News10's blog linked to mine!!

*pictures taken during event by me and others, taken from Twitter feed and News10.net

New Fence, Part III

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 fencing, unfortunately the last two sections will be the most difficult, both because of the length (one runs more than 150 feet) and because of climbing rose bushes that grow up both of them.

Shade at the Lodge

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 successfully installed Jen and I headed to the Golden Pines Campground to get some propane for the BBQ and then I took her on a tour of the area, we got ice cream bars for everyone at the Lodge and I showed her the Big Trees Village Rec Center before taking the scenic route back to the Lodge. On a side note, the semi evil squirrels figured out how to "open" a container of bird seed that was accidentally left out on the deck for about 20 minutes, I think they enjoyed their meal.

On Sunday we celebrated Father's Day in style at In-N-Out in Lodi, where my parent's and grandma had their first taste of fries well done (yummy).  To top off the weekend Jen and I headed to the movies with the rest of America and saw Toy Story 3, then headed to Bel Air for our favorite special, 4 desserts for $10.

Staying Positive

 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 carefully choose the jobs and companies I apply to, I make sure to do my homework before meeting with a new company or individual and perhaps most importantly I exercise daily for my mental and physical well-being.  All of that has helped me stay positive and focus on my goal ... landing a full time job at a world-class company.

Since I am in the public relations field, I have also taken a few additional steps to keep my skills relevant and build my network.  First, I joined the Media and Marketing sub-committee with Citizen Voice and have helped to plan and gain media attention to a fund-raiser (Swim for Life) and organized debates for the June Primary election.  Second, I have gotten myself in and on the news at least three times on purpose.  The first "on purpose" occasion happened as I was going to the Bay Area and saw a Sacramento Bee request for someone on CalCOBRA, the second was with News10's Suzanne Phan about using social media to find a job (check out this story from today's Sacramento Business Journal about the same subject) and most recently, I was featured in the Sacramento Business Journal for using networking as a main tool to meet people, find job leads and get interviews. For those wondering about the times I have been in the paper that were not on purpose: a picture of me playing soccer on Easter Sunday in Mexicali about 10 years ago that was in the Sacramento Bee, a story about me buying a house in Roseville that was in the Sacramento Bee in July when the reporter contacted me after seeing some of my Facebook status updates and I just found out that there was a picture of me at the Placer Business Tweetup in the Roseville Press Tribune (working on getting a copy of that now).

What does all of this mean?  It means, and I say this every time, that social media works for PR professionals and journalists, just like it works for businesses.  When a reporter saw that I was having painting parties at my new house, he contacted me to see if he could use me as a source, when I saw on Twitter that the Sacramento Bee was looking for someone on CalCOBRA I contacted them, when I was at Social Media Weekend I met Suzanne Phan and we started to talk about doing a story about using social media as part of a job search, Suzanne and I then both saw a Tweet from the Sacramento Business Journal about a story they were working on, I attended a social media networking event and was photographed.  It really is amazing to see how seamlessly social media has worked its way into our lives and I can only imagine what is to come.  In fact even Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives sees the importance of social media, they will be back in Sacramento filming and not only did they contact the normal outlets (Sacramento Magazine for sure and guessing the Sacramento Bee), but a local blog www.SacFoodies.com.

Walking Down the Red Carpet

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.

An Oregon Wedding

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 Canadahttp://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 was gorgeous, the bride's dress beautiful and white, the bridesmaids dresses looked like they could wear them again for any formal event, the groomsman's rental suits were nicely pressed and everyone seemed to have a great time thanks to the great party planning skills of the bride and a good local caterer who provided a great meal.  One of the highlights, no rain, it rained Friday and Sunday, but luckily not on Saturday, allowing us all to enjoy the sunshine and the party.