Bloggers, Tacos and Minnesota Inspiration

Minnesota bloggers rock. I know because I spent Saturday with 150 of the best, brightest and kindest people at the 2nd annual MN Blogger Conference.

Talk about a recharge! There is no way I can capture the energy in black and white print (Kate Hopper could, but not me) so I am going do the next best thing - introduce you to a few of the people I had the pleasure of talking with, learning from and being inspired by. 

Among the people I met were Lee Svitak Dean, Food editor for the Star Tribune and author of Come One, Come All as well as Amy Peterson, writer of Green Your Plate blog. Do you see a trend here? 2 people - 1 topic . . . food. There is an amazing network of food bloogers in town and frankly, this sounds much more interesting than human resources, leadership and growth. I am a far cry from a foodie but that doesn't mean I can't add a few food blogs to my reader for inspiration, right?

Two non-foodies I met were Emma Wilhelm, an author of 8 Dimensions of Leadership, DiSC Strategies for Becoming a Better Leader and Christy Eichers, an old band leadership camp buddy of Charlie Judy, HRFishbowl. Go figure!

The inspiration continued in the sessions:

Lee Oden, Top Rank Marketing. With nothing more than a blog and some savvy community building techniques (think hub and spoke and meeting the needs of your customers) he created a globaly recognized online marketing business.

Paul DeBettignies, HireCast Consulting. After warming the crowd up he dished about networking, using the back of your business cards, being nice to others <karma always comes back to you> and the difference between lurking and stalking.

Communities may develop around a website or a blog, but they don't stop there. Led by Kate O'Reilly, Clever Kate, panel members Jen Emmert, Prior Fat Girl, Meghan Wilker, Summer of Dresses, Stephanie Meyer, Fresh Tart Steph, and Ian Schwartz, St. Paul Tweetup shared their commuity building tips: people will hate on you and you get to decide how to respond, invite people to participate in the community, and there is not best approach to community growth. 

I'm a Squarespace girl. I've felt a little alone in the Wordpress world, but no more. Enter Josh Braaten, Big Picture Web. He's my very own Squarespace connection. If you use Squarespace, think about using it or want a side-by-side comparison of Squarespace and Wordpress, he's your guy.

I heart Kate Hopper. Have you ever written a blog post that felt flat? Um, yes. Kate shared ways to ground your stories in details and bring people to life by describing tastes, smells, sounds, textures and touches. Her first book, Use Your Words: A Writing Guide for Mothers will be out in Spring 2012.

The taco bar rocked, the location was superb and the parking was free. Wait, the entire event was free thanks our sponsors Top Rank Online Marketing, Allina Hospitals and Clinics and KARE11. Yes, free!

Not sure how Missy Berggran, Arik Hanson and the planning team will top this in 2012 but I can't wait to find out!

Where My Ideas and Words Are

Where oh where are my posts you ask? Oh, I've got them, jotted down, framed up, and bound so nice and safe . . . in my Moleskine. 

See?

Let me orient you - to me.

Each folded 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper is a gem just waiting to be freed. The pink Post It note is my immediate do-not-forgets since I am an out-of-sight-out-of-mind-kind of a girl, the lady bug is what is left of a bookmark my daughter made for me (dog was hungry) and the sticker to the right is from the MN Bloggers Conference.

I've got to get the ideas from there to here and I will - just as soon as I finish wrapping presents for the kiddo, cleaning the basement for the visiting in-laws and just plain old being busy.

No wait, I am not busy, I am done being busy.

I am developing our facility's first ever workforce succession plan, creating a technical manual for the national Business Plan for HR Staffing, employee/labor relationing, pondering words of wisdom to share with fellow Central MN SHRM colleagues about social media, Women of HR-ing, reading lost but re-found letters from my cadets to me *sigh* as I was leaving my ROTC leadership assignment, removing the spider webs from my snow shoes, and looking forward to a week leading up to a wonderful holiday weekend.

I am also wondering (but not worrying) why I am making the choices I am. I know, you've told me, I may be making choices that move me further away from the core of my profession.

Not likely, but I hear you. Now, hear me. I may be making choices that move me closer to the core of what it means to be me.

Time to grab some Baileys, pop Alice in Wonderland in and be inspired or, at the very least, be entertained. The ideas are here now and the words will come - later. Whenever I have something to say, this is where I come to say it. Promise.

#MNBlogConf

This weekend, I spent Saturday in a cooperative workspace with 148 Minnesota bloggers at the first MN Blogger Conference. Being one of the few (maybe the only) blogger writing on leadership, growth and HR, I had ample opportunity be exposed to other blogging topics. Yes, there is blogging beyond HR.

With three keynotes and fifteen breakout sessions, information to suit any topic, style and level of blogging was there for the taking. From generating ad revenue and editing CSS in WordPress to analytics, SEO and finding your authentic voice - there was a session for every interest.

My two favorite sessions were Growing as Writers: taking Your Blog Posts to the Next Level by Kate Hopper, author of Mother Words-Mothers Who Write and How to Get Published: Get a Book Deal Out of Your Blog by Bonnie Harris, founder of Max Marketing, Inc.

Top three take-aways for me:

• I am not a blogger, I am a writer. I am not a blogger, I am a writer, I am not a blogger . . . get the drift?
• PR people and their pitches can be a blogger's best friend. So, to all the pitches I ignored . . .
• Analytics matter, links matter and @adamsinger has got this SEO stuff down cold.

Ok, here's a fourth take away. Blogs are cool but it's really all about the people. Look them in the eye and it all takes on a new meaning. Here are three "sets of eyes" that left an immediate impression with me.

• I recently started reading The Extraordinary Ordinary. This weekend, I met Heather, the author, and heard her speak. Talk about an amazing woman, a gentle spirit, a strong soul. I will read her writing with a whole new level of meaning (and understanding) for me.
• Another person behind the blog I met was Judy, a strong woman - with presence, who is my daily, caffeinated, up to the minute, "source for crazy things" at Just JudyJudyJudy. Subscribe. Now.
• A new person, and blog, to me is Jennifer at Prior Fat Girl. You can't be in the same room with Jennifer and not want to know more about her. She's fun, she glows and she's real. A blog I am adding to the reader because of the person.

So, before I go, I have to mention that I did a video interview at the conference. David Erickson asked me, I said yes. After escaping and avoiding these video things for the longest time, this time I didn't. Why?

It was time to just own it and do it. 

It is what it is and now I have that behind me. Phew.  

Wonderful organizers, fun attendees and very knowledgeable, helpful presenters and generous sponsors. Looking forward to the second MN Bloggers Conference.

Cheers to the MN blogging community! 

This Blog Has Been A Major Distraction For Me

Yes, you read that right. This blog has been a major distraction for me.

Yet, the doors it has opened, the interests it has spawned, the friends I've met and the communities I've discovered are so worth the time, effort, blood, sweat, tears (!) 

Ha, it's not that bad but it most definitely is a commitment and one worth its weight in gold.

I was presenting a session on the benefits of blogging a few weeks ago and one participant asked, "how do you find the time?" My response, "I am a blogger. I make the time. It's that important to me."

There are HR pros, recruiters, career-advisors, coaches, leadership pros, writers and more breaking ground and making a difference every day from conferences, meetups and webinars to newsletters, radio shows, and more. For each one I linked to, there are many, many more out there.

This is not about me, it's about people knocking down doors and taking names. Here are some of the wonderful organizations and conferences  I've recently had, or will have, the honor of being part of in one way or another:    

   

   

  

 

 

Yup, this blog has been a major distraction for me . . . . and I wouldn't have it any other way.  

A Writing Wake Up Call

If there is a legend, there is a woman behind it. #fact

I was a huge "Little House on the Prairie" fan, and to a young girl growing up, the adventures on the prairie were real. With anticipation, the family recently visited Walnut Grove and the Ingalls Homestead. I discovered there that the books and television series were not all real. Characters were added, scenes were created, and - get this - Mary never got married. Hmph! 

Talk about shattered realities (and just a tad bit of drama.) Nonetheless, I was intrigued enough by what I saw to want to know more about the real Laura Ingalls Wilder. I picked up a book from the gift shop, "Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman Behind the Legend."

Laura Ingalls Wilder was an extraordinary woman. Although her story is very engaging, my take aways from the book had less to do with her life or her legend and more to do with her growth as a writer:

• She didn't start writing until the age of forty-four. 
• She started off "looking for items that were unusual or unique. Later, as she discovered possibilities existing in the common things that could be observed everyday, she never lacked for subjects." 
• She carved out time to write and "became a disciplined writer able to produce throughtful, readable prose for a general audience and to meet regular deadlines."
• She wrote stories and her editor (her daughter) "shaped the material into publishable form."

Writers write. I know that writing is challenging. I know that, like anything else, growth as as writer takes committment. It did then, it does now. #fact The thing is, I want writing to be easier, to come easier, to - at times - be anything but what it really is. #fiction 

So, straight from the very place where fact and fiction intermingle, I got a writing wake up call from the little house on the prairie. 

The Geometry Of A Post

Writing can be a real chore. Or, it can be fun.

I read somewhere that writing is fun once you get good at it and being good at it makes your communication skills, your creativity and your powers of reason that much stronger. Blah, blah. 

Well, "good" is relative and you don't have to be good to have fun, you just have to want it. Need a refresh? You can try something new or take a look at  something old from a new perspective. Now, let's have a little fun.  

The Idea

When I can't put two thoughts together, one thing that keeps me writing are the times I've sat down to write with nothing more than my good intentions, a blank sheet of paper and a wisp of an idea only to watch a post develop right in front of my eyes.

Is it ground breaking, is it breathtaking, does it repeat or rhyme?  Does it linger, does it blast, does it spin on a dime? Does it question, does it challenge, does it inquire or suppose? Does it push people away or does it bring them in close? Don't judge, don't measure and don't you fret. Don't format, don't structure, at least just not yet. Capture, observe and don't try to hide, your creativity is showing, go along for the ride.

I write for times like this when the anti-writing demon is out of sight and I can't write fast enough, or neat enough, to capture the flow of ideas.

The Shape

My wisps of ideas come from things I've read, conversations I've had with others, in response to specifc requests, insights or questions, or right out of the blue on my drive into work. After capturing the idea, I begin to frame it up. Yup, I picture it, sketch it and begin to look for its shape.

Does it start from point A and circle around back to there? Or does it have four equal sides, just like a square? Does it start from point A and move in a straight line? Does it blow past Point B, is the idea still mine? Are my ideas parallel, never to meet? Hmmm, what if they intersect, what could that mean? For a rant or a rave to get off my chest, the exclamation point is up to the test. It may build upon a foundation to prove a point but do I need it less triangular to shake up this joint? 

No, you'll probably never need to diagram a post for your English teacher, but pondering the geometry of a post could be fun. Really.

The Why

Yes, writing can be a chore and it can be exercise in discipline. Writing, like a geometric proof,  (last geek reference, promise!) can systematically lead your reader step-by-step from the premises of a proof to the conclusion . . . or it can take them (and you) away to a place they've never been before or even one they didn't know existed.

Writing can be many different things but there is only one thing that writing really is. Writing is an exercise in trust. Writing requires you to trust that, if you write, the ideas will come. Writing requires trust in yourself as a writer and trust your words.

No matter what shape they are in.

Photo credit iStock Photo