10 Things Your Parents Told You That Still Apply to Social Media - Danny Brown Blog Guest Post

I was honored to be asked by my friend, Danny Brown to guest blog for him.

The back story is that my daughter Rachel and I were on a road trip together and we started to discuss parental guidance on social media.

Here's what we came up with and hope you all enjoy:  https://www.dannybrown.me/2010/10/08/parents-children-social-media/  

Connecting for Business Outcomes - Journey Continues

Over the last two years, I've had the opportunity to follow my passion of connecting for business and social benefit. In July 2008, I took a break from corporate life to write a book, set-up a consulting practice (ConnectGen) and speak professionally as a thought leader about the Power of Connection for business outcomes. It's been a fantastic experience and the connections and networks I've developed over that period will stay with me for life.

On July 1st 2010, I enter the next phase of my connection for business journey as I join the team at UXC Connect as their Director of Marketing, Sustainability & Innovation. UXC Connect (formerly Wang, Bull, Olivetti and more recently, Getronics) is part of the ASX-listed UXC Business Solutions Group, Australia's largest independent IT services company. UXC Connect works with customers to understand their business issues to help them deliver the right business outcomes through the most appropriate technology. Their focus is on keeping customer's business running long-term through infrastructure, workspace, environmental and managed sustainability.

I relish the challenge of growing UXC Connect's business in Australia by applying my traditional & social marketing/solutions experience and expertise to the business. I will also continue to be a thought leader and professional speaker on topics relating to social and business innovation, sustainability and connection through information technology.

Thanks and much appreciation to all who have - and continue - to support me.
 
 

 

The Princess of Dreams Sings - Lee Safar

Something cool happened to me last week and I wanted to share it with you.

When I was younger and despite having close family and friends, I had - like many of us - moments of self-doubt and a feelings of isolation. 

Specifically, I'd wonder and worry about who would there to help me through life's twists and turns. To help me through these times, I'd listen to a song by Irene Cara called "Out Here On My Own" from the Fame soundtrack. I've always related to this song. The specific lyric that spoke to me was:

"When I'm down and feelin' blue, I close my eyes so I can be with you"

It was my way of coping by dreaming about the person who would be with me through life's trials and tribulations.

So back to the cool thing. I re-connected with my extremely talented singer friend, Lee Safar two years ago. To me, she is a Princess of Dreams and is an Angel of Inspiration to many through her music and Dreamangel work. I'd been hounding her for months to do a cover of this special song at one of her gigs. She politely said she'd consider it and didn't expect to hear back as she jetted off to Los Angeles to further her singing career.

Lee came back to Australia in early June to play some gigs in Sydney. Last Friday, I attended the first of her two shows at the Piano Bar in Sydney's King Cross. Lee had given me the honor of introducing her that evening and she did hint that she was going to do "that" song. I prepared my trusty Flipcam to record the moment on video (despite the occasional car horns, police sirens and drink shakers going off in the background).

Then, this happened ... I'll let Lee finish the story through the video  https://youtu.be/gAmhEFzcZFU 

Always interested in your thoughts via comments on this post.

 

Posted via email from Musings on Musicals

SPEED CONNECTING

A few weeks back, I was invited by Jen Bishop, editor of Dynamic Business magazine to attend a speed networking event in Sydney, Australia, hosted by Regus Virtual Offices. The format was to spend 60 seconds with each person you were due to meet - 30 seconds introducing yourself and 30 seconds of them introducing themselves. Due to the format and time, I ended up meeting 52 people from various business backgrounds.

By all accounts, it was a great success.

When I got back to the office, I contacted suppliers that I had an urgent need for their services and promptly followed up the business leads during the week. I was still left with a large pile of business cards on my desk. So what to do with these? I added them to my business database and invited them to Linkedin (or asked them to invite me) which is my usual practice. But then I thought ...

I'm a connector - I connect people to other people. So why shouldn't I share these new contacts with others who may be in need of their services. Hence, this post. I've categorised each business based on what I think they do, the person I met, their business name and their website.

Consider yourselves "speed connected".

Accountants	Amanda	abk accountants	www.taxbenefits.com.au
Accountants	David	Clark & Jacobs	www.clarkjacobs.com.au
Bookkeeping	Emma	EC bookkeeping	www.ecbookkeeping.com.au
Brand Management	Carolin	Love Branding	www.love-branding.com
Business Coaching	Andrew	Action Coach	www.actioncoach.com/andrewlaurie
Business Magazine	Patrick	Dynamic Business	www.dynamicbusiness.com
Business Strategist	Brendan	Brendan Norris	www.BrendanNorris.com
Business Travel	Peter	World Business Travel	www.wbtravel.com
Carbon Offset Consulting	Michael	Climakind	www.climakind.com
Childrens Charity	Anthea	Make A Wish Foundation	www.makeawish.org.au
Chiropractor	Paul	Lyons Road Family Chiropractic	www.drummoynechiropractor.com.au
Cleaning Services	Jonathan	Mastercare Cleaning Services	www.mastercarecleaning.com.au
Coaching - Executive	Faye	Outshine Consulting	www.outshineconsulting.com.au
Consulting & Training	Malcolm	Vivides	www.vivides.com
CRM	Michael	Ezy Suite	www.ezysuite.com.au
Design Marketing Consultants	Sarah	Pure Equator Design	www.pure-equator.com/
Executive Business Advisors	Kate	Adept Executive Solutions	www.adeptexecutives.com.au
Facilities Management	Lisa	ITFM Services	www.itfm.com.au
Financial Modelling	Russell	Aether Solutions	www.aethersolutions.com.au
Financial Services	Timothy	Profile Financial Services	www.profileservices.com.au
Foreign Exchange Advisors	Mark	AFEX	www.afex.com
Ideas Evangelist	Mahei	Soderhavet	www.soderhavet.to/
IT Consulting	David	We do technologies	www.wedotechnologies.com
IT Hardware Hire	Neil	Hire Intelligence	www.hire-intelligence.com.au
IT Managed Services	Michael	Comcity Technology	www.comcity.com.au
Legal Service Provider	Alan	Australian Lawyers Networks	www.alnlegal.com.au
Life Coaching	Howard	Polaris Media Group	www.polarismediagroup.com/shalosh
Marketing Creatives	Andrew	The Other Dimension	www.theotherdimension.com
Marketing Merchandise	Tim	Value Added Promotions	www.vap.com.au
Marketing Solutions	Judith	Cantor Direct	www.cantordirect.com.au
Mobile Digital Solutions	JT	mobione	www.mobione.com.au
Mortgage Broker	Mike	MortgageCorp	www.mortgagecorp.com.au
Online Web Development	Vince	Domani Digital	www.domani.com.au
Photography	Alex	alexvaughan	www.alexvaughan.com.au
Product Launch Architect	James	Launch Architects	www.launcharchitects.com
Professional Migration Relocation	Claire	Sydney Migration International	www.sydney-migration.com.au
Project Management	Graham	Erudite management	www.erudite.com.au
Property Buyers Agent	Amanda	Amanda Segers	www.amandaonmyside.com.au
Property Management	Dana	McCove Property	www.mccoveproperties.com.au
Small Business Advisors	Lawrence	Grow-Achieve	www.grow-achieve.com
Stockbroking Advisory Service	Martin	Kinetic Securities	www.kineticsecurities.com
Strategic Planning	Kevin	Zeno IT	www.zenoit.com.au
Tarot Consulting	Christine	cmktartconsultancy	www.cmktarotconsultancy.com.au
Tax Accountants	Janna	Fletcher Tax Accountants	www.fletchertaxaccountants.com.au
Tax Effective Charitable Donations	Steve	Leaf Capital	www.leafcapital.com.au
UK Trade and Investment	Craig	British Consulate-General Sydney	www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk
University Alumni	Heidi	UNSW	www.business.unsw.edu.au
Video Website Concierge	Scott	Clive Video	www.clivevideo.com
Virtual Offices	Katie	Regus	www.regus.com.au
Visual Communications	Linda	Parker-Wood	www.parker-wood.com
Wealth Management	Tony	PBD Wealth Management	www.pbd.com
Writer, Speaker, Broadcaster	Paul	PaulWallbank.com	www.paulwallbank.com

Posted via email from iggypintado's posterous

Lessons from a Rose - Rosie Elzingre Pintado

In the hopes of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet - Albert Schweitzer (via @iconic88)

Rosie Elzingre Pintado is my grandmother. To say she had an amazing life is the boldest of understatements. She was born in the Philippines in 1910, the daughter of Swiss and Spanish parents. She was married at the age of 19 and had five children with her husband, Felix Pintado I. 

In 1945, she spent months with her family fleeing the rampaging Japanese invasion of Manila, losing her husband and three of her children during the conflict. Her son, Jose Juan, just over a year old, died in her arms during a particularly savage bombing raid. 

She survived the war along with her two children, son Felix II (my Dad) and daughter, Teresita. She migrated to Sydney, Australia to rebuild her life in 1972 with her children and grand-children. On this day in 1993, she passed away peacefully. She is survived by her two children, thirteen grand-children, almost 30 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild. 

On the last day of her life, I was by her hospital bed as she lay there in a coma struggling to breathe. My Dad, Mum and I watched her and talked about her life, her fighting spirit and her good humour despite all the challenges that befell her. During a break in our conversation, I witnessed her take her final breath - a moment that profoundly affects me to this day.

On the anniversary of her passing, I pondered on the 3 things that I learnt from my beloved grandmother and thought I'd share. 

1. Family as a Life priority - with the passing of her own children, Rosie realised that having family support is vital for survival. As the matriarch of the family during the rebuilding process, she always prioritised family celebrations and every occasion to get the family together. There were the usual trials and tribulations that every family must endure but her perseverance to keep the family united was relentless.

2. Technology as an Enabler to Adversity - Rosie loved watching movies and dramas on TV and even in her mid 70's, she mastered the TV remote control. As her hearing began to falter, she adopted a hearing aid to ensure she could still listen to her favorite films and shows. When she lost her eyesight eventually, she registered with the Royal Blind Society (now Vision Australia) to send her audio books on cassette so she could still enjoy her favorite literature. She taught me that if technology is available, embrace it to live, learn and enjoy.

3. Celebrate Life through Expression - Rosie was a master cake-maker and seamstress. She baked the most magnificent cakes ever and sewed clothes for almost every member of the family. She adored birthdays and anniversaries because she loved to celebrate with family and friends. She taught me how to dance for both fun and expression. She would hit the dance floor with her favorite Charleston jig or the more traditional Spanish Flamenco, regardless of who was watching her. She used self-expression to reveal her talent and to celebrate the joys of life.

I am so thankful for the gift of my grandmother, Rosie. 

If you're reading this and haven't thought to do so yet, say 'hi' to your grandmother for me. If she's no longer with us, take a moment to remember her for what she taught you.

Comments always welcome.
  


     

Posted via email from iggypintado's posterous

The Day Slide Night Died

We had many family traditions when I was growing up. One of the those was "Slide Night". This was the night when Dad would take out his slide projector, the slide carousels that housed a hundred or more  slides and set up the projection screen. 

The eight children and Mum would assemble in the lounge room and would then be taken through a viewing of what seemed like an eternity of photo slides, accompanied by full narration (being an accountant by trade, Dad loves the details) from family events like the 1965 Disneyland trip, the drive through Canada in 1969 and family visits to our native Spain in 1970. 

Being one of the youngest in the tribe, I was attentive during the Disneyland trip slides with fabulous stories of the Pirates of the Caribbean and It's a Small World After All experiences. The whole presentation process got tiring by slide 125 as we started on the Canadian leg and I was fast asleep by the Spanish trip.

A few months ago, my Dad who's now approaching 80 years of age, asked me whether I wanted to see his latest photos from a family event. My mind immediately went back to Slide Nights and a fear enveloped me of having to go through the set-up process again, let alone having to sit through multiple monotonous images. Dad then said, "Wait here, we'll watch it on the Plasma TV". 

STOP THE PRESS - this I had to see.

Dad walked into the TV room, plugged his digital camera into the plasma and off we went - that's him on the right in this photo - as I had to capture the moment. We skipped through the boring shots and went into detail on the most relevant ones. It was a dream viewing compared to Slide Night circa 1970.

Slide projectors and slides have long been replaced by digital alternatives over the years. For me, the moment was significant because it wasn't about the technology. This was about HOW the technology was applied by someone who embraced the technology - despite his age - to deliver the best result for what he wanted to achieve. 

That moment for me was ... the day the Slide Night died forever.

Posted via email from iggypintado's posterous

Legitimising Social Media for Business

Last month, Jen Bishop, the former editor of Dynamic Business magazine, Australia's largest subscription magazine for small business sent a tweet on Twitter asking people who they would most like to see featured in their November issue. She contacted me shortly afterwards and we met for a coffee meeting interview.

This month, I'm not only featured in an article in the magazine, I also made the front cover.

Aside from being humbled by the honour, profile and exposure, in my mind it's also resulted in three great outcomes for social media and business:

1. Social Media is for business. This is the first time a player in the social media space has appeared on the front cover of a mainstream business magazine in Australia. This highlights that social media has arrived as a legitimate business platform for business owners and managers to consider and leverage.

2. Social Media Experts vs. Practioners. To represent social media for business, the magazine didn't pick a self-proclaimed social media "expert or guru" i.e. some who claim to know social media yet rarely tweet or last accessed their Linkedin account eighteen months ago. The fact is that Dynamic Business chose a social media practitioner - someone who regularly uses social media personally and commercially to collaborate, participate and connect with people and communities, in a disciplined manner.

3. Traditional and Social Media can co-exist. Much has been said about the potential demise of print and broadcast media with the rise of "new" media. With forward thinking editors like Jen Bishop leading the way, there is a place for both mediums if leveraged 'inline' with media consumption behaviour and preferences. I'm pleased to be working with Jen to use this magazine issue as an experiment on print and social media coexistence as she details in her recent blog post.

Kudos to Jen and her team for having the vision to realise that social media is relevant, practical and good - for business.

What do you think? Would appreciate any thoughts and comments on this post.

Posted via email from iggypintado's posterous