Very Important 16-year-old Fight

Not sure why this note was never delivered in 1996. Maybe I missed her between 6th & 7th period or maybe I just decided to improve my telephone etiquette and hang out with the people in my own grade. Fortunately, we somehow made it through the difficult time described in my note below and Kelly & I are still friends 16 years later.  But I have decided to mail her the note so we can get some closure. Stay tuned for her response.

Kelly,

First of all I don’t think some of the stuff you said was fair. But, I do owe you an apology for a few things. I know I don’t call you often. I don’t think of callling people as “owing a call.” I hate calling someone and having nothing to say. I don’t like taking turns calling people, I just do when I or they need to talk.  I do understand if it bothers you if that I haven’t gotten a chance to call. I dont know what your talking about when you say you ask me to do stuff but I never can. You do invite me to a lot of stuff but I don’t remember turning you down. About last Friday, I wasn’t invited to Amy’s house before the game so I didn’t think I was welcome with you guys. I would have felt weird showing up by myself so Julie said I could do something with them. They ended up going to the game where I got made fun of for being with the freshmen. They were my second choice. The week before at the game I didn’t know that you cared that I went to that party. Maybe if the game was more fun, I would have stayed. It’s not like I ditched you guys. I don’t like the freshmen more than anyone, I just have a lot of fun with them. I am not talking about you or anyone in particular, I just think our friends can be kind of snobby.

Coley

Pinteresting

Admiring blogs, leafing through magazines, thrift shopping and browsing with friends… on steroids. That’s how I would best explain the Pinterest addiction.  It’s a visual and inspiring social experience that allows people to keep and categorize images or ideas they like. Weddings, crafts, fashion, and recipes are a few examples of common “boards,” but it’s not just the stereotypical lady categories that has made it the social site that everyone is pinning and talking about lately.  In my opinion it’s  the blend of immediacy (who has time to read anymore?), fantasy (my bedroom will look like this some day), and the addictive consumer rush that comes with pinning and compartmentalizing life on to boards (similar to shopping but without the commitment).

While Pinterest is becoming increasingly popular among women, the overall concept of the visual and social site is bound to catch on among all different audiences. Hunters, painters, bird-watchers, antique collectors, etc will eventually have their own Pinterest-like place to hang out, learn from like-minded friends and strangers, get inspired and show off their own dead deer, brushstrokes, favorite binoculars, and vintage refrigerators. It will certainly be interesting to see the different social websites sprout up and watch which ones take off.

For me personally, the e-card below describes my feelings about Pinterest, which I do use for browsing and inspiration, but only after I catch up on Facebook and Twitter.  My go-to site would be called Humorist, but it doesn’t exist yet because I haven’t invented it.

 

 

Fun Friday

Friday blog posts should not be philosophical, romantic or professional. They should be simple and fun. Here are three fun things:

1. My dog Steve

2. Drinking on a patio

3. Weddings (and Instagram)

 

 

Happy Unconventional New Year

Instead of being disappointed in myself for failing to blog more or work out four times a week in January, I’m declaring a new years resolution re-do. Here’s my train of thought: in life you can choose to make your own rules or be frustrated by the ones made for us (like this January 1st business). Supposedly new years goals need to be measurable and most of them are doomed for failure by the end of January… this is exactly why my February 1st “nooo years resolution” is to do things unconventionally, and I do not plan on measuring it.

I’ll admit that Adam & I have set a strict budget and plan to pay off debts this year, and I may still obsess over my weekly to-do lists and professional ambitions, but my overall theme for 2012 is to do life my way. My way will often be the unorthodox, less traveled road, and not the more convenient and conventional paved path, so the real challenge lies in having the confidence to maintain this frame of mind.

My creative, sarcastic, unusual side is tired of being suppressed. I am tired of the sense of guilt I carry in our ever-shifting child-free life, uncharacteristic of married 30-somethings. I am aware that no one is putting that guilt on me, especially since I don’t have parents pushing me to settle into suburbia, raise a family and responsibly contribute to our retirement plan. For some reason I choose to put these unnecessary pressures on myself, which I am choosing to let go of in 2012.

So, diary, this is goodbye to my ridiculous self-sanctioned standards, guilt and conforming because of what everyone else is doing. I am off to tattoo this entire post on my back.

P.S. Sorry for the self-centered nooo years resolution. I also vow to volunteer at least once a month.

Gratefulness *Vomit warning for over-sentimental sappiness*

I spent a lot of the weekend feeling stressed about everything that needs to be done for our move to our new place next week. I weeded out books, toiletries, pantry items and did several loads of laundry while my husband stared at football and basketball games. I am a planner. And the anxious one. So of course I took it out on him. I mean, look at this laziness.

And then I remembered the guy in the photo below. The picture is from our date at Reata and the Nutcracker- a sweet plan that he made out of the blue last month. It also reminds me of years ago when he showed up at my very ill mother’s door surprising her with tickets and letting her know that he was taking her and me on a date to the Nutcracker. He is one of the kindest and smartest people I know but never flaunts his qualities because he’s also one of the most modest people I know. Nothing makes me happier than making him laugh and when we laugh hard together, it feels like we are sharing something that no one else is capable of. Even when I blow up after a weekend of organizing and pointless worrying, he doesn’t hold it against me.  I am fortunate to have a husband, but I am incredibly blessed to have Adam as my husband.

Sometimes being ungrateful makes you turn around and realize how much you have to be grateful for. In other words, turn around and make sure your not being an asshole once in a while.

Caught in the Act of Kindness

For a project for work, I have the pleasure of capturing and collecting photos of kindness. I took this one with our new camera off of Lancaster near Presbyterian Night Shelter. Inspired? Send me yours! colleenharrisfischer@gmail.com

boloco: Doing Social Right

I read about boloco probably a year ago on mashable or a similar site, so I can’t take credit for discovering the Boston area burrito chain’s social media wizardry. But it was my personal experience that turned me into the kind of customer that would go to bat for them online.  I tweeted about how excited I was to try boloco on an upcoming visit to Boston and quickly received a response offering to treat me to a burrito sampler. I was in town for a wedding, which of course kept me too busy to do anything I actually wanted to do, so I wasn’t ever able to try it out. Yet, I am still the kind of  “customer” who would, and has defended the brand. Below is a summary of what they’re doing right. But like they say on Reading Rainbow, you don’t have to take my word for it: Like  https://www.facebook.com/Boloco or follow @boloco on Twitter

1. Customer Relations.  They make mistakes. They fix them immediately. Asking unhappy customers to email or tweet their bolocco card number allows them to add credits or a free burrito and take care of their beloved customers instantly. It is also a method they use to entice new customers or reward loyal boloco’ers. And sometimes they simply give away free burritos to everyone.

2. Multimedia. Photos and images generated by themselves and by their customers shared on Twitter and Facebook. Videos ranging from interviews, free burrito customer footage, and children’s testimonials of their kids menu.

3. Personality. Transparency. Unusual. Yes, these are social media b.s. buzzwords, but they aren’t b.s when a brand is able to nail it. boloco’s posts are clever, subtle, and candid. This is best described by example. And today’s tweet by boloco is a perfect one:

Who would have considered (and had the bolocos) to re-tweet the below unflattering post? Not many, but boloco comes off unpretentious and it illustrates that they are wholeheartedly listening to every opinion.  I like that. I don’t even want to eat you , I want to be friends with you boloco.

@boloco happy sunday RT @paaj13: Chipotle > boloco

 

 

Solo Book Club: The Tipping Point

I finally finished one of the numerous books I started in 2010. Since I no longer belong to a book club, a blog post about my perspective will have to serve as a lonesome replacement: 

The Tipping Point’s human behavior perspective was refreshing because it didn’t revolve around guerilla marketing tricks, public relations tactics, or social media approaches, topics I read about daily. The subject is alike in that the book describes how some trends spread like wildfire (and reach that crucial “tipping point”) and some never ignite. But instead of the purposeful approach of creating a social media marketing campaign, it is described as more of a natural coincidence that arises from three agents of change: the law of the few, the stickiness factor and the power of context. 

The change agent I was fascinated by is the law of the few that categorizes three personality types critical to causing the tipping point. These types are:  

Maven- The passionate person who is incredibly knowledgeable and enjoys sharing

Connector – The social person who knows everyone in every circle

Salesman- The person who knows how to persuade

While mavens, connectors and salesmen are the main personality types, the “cool” person, or trendsetter is a secondary category mentioned that I was most intrigued by. It’s the friend who started smoking first in middle school, the bookish guy who rode his vintage bike everywhere before the trend began with hipsters, the girl who was only going for comfort but somehow made Jeggings ok.  These types never cared what was normal or ever planned to start a trend, but they did. 

I am obviously not the cool person and don’t claim to understand that girl who made the risky decision to wear jeggings. But I believe what makes me a good marketer is that I have the ability to spot these trends and trendsetters early.  And even beyond the recognizing them, I am capable of communicating in a subtle way, which is the only way to connect with this cool species.  They are the root of the trends, the dinosaurs that came before the mavens, connectors and salesmen (who, in turn, make those trends go “mainstream”).  

To summarize, I took a book that I was relieved was not about marketing, and immediately applied it to create a blog post about reaching the root influencer for purposes of public relations, social media and marketing.  Now I see why I am the only one in my book club.

Merry F’ing Christmas

A funny and true holiday office story that still embarrasses me today:

At 23 years old, in my first six months at a “real job” I was naturally still learning the dynamics of an office culture, the varying relationships between co-workers, bosses and executives, and common courtesies.  About a week before Christmas, holiday cards and a few baked gifts started showing up on my desk and I realized I should probably give out some cards, at the very least to my closer friends and some of the higher-ups. Problem solved. Done.

But the day before the office would close for Christmas, my direct boss, with whom I shared an office with and had quickly learned to respect and really like, dropped a gift off on my desk.  Shit, it was a rosemary tree, a unique and thoughtful gift, and I had nothing for this woman who had hired AND promoted clueless, adorable me. I was flat broke and had about 6 hours to come up with something thoughtful. So I ran home on my lunch break and burned a CD with the eight Christmas songs I had ready to go in an iTunes folder. I also had a nice set of sharpies and an artsy side so I decorated the CD and carefully wrote out “Merry Christmas to the Savoldi family! Love, Colleen”  I was proud of my quick thinking and the  inexpensive and personalized gift as I handed it to my boss, Michele before we left the office for Christmas break with our families. Problem solved. Done.

Upon our return, when I asked how she and the family liked the CD, I discovered that I had given her a mix of classic Christmas songs with two accidental gems:  South Park’s Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo (pretty embarrassing) and MERRY F*ING CHRISTMAS (a humiliatingly terrible racist song, full of swear words that I gave to my boss, her husband and their five and eight-year-old children).

Thank god she has a sense of humor like mine – as I explained that I didn’t intend to include those two songs on the Savoldi family Christmas mix, we laughed to tears together. And continue to laugh about it every year to this day.

Let me know if I can make anyone a decorated copy of the following CD that is burned in my brain for ever:

Jingle Bell Rock
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo
Drummer Boy – Ann Murray
So This Is Christmas – John Lennon
Meli Kalikimaka- Hawaiian Christmas Song
Christmas Time is Here – Chipmunks
Merry F*ing Christmas (Click to listen and blush with empathy)

The Social Media Train in 2012

Good things to come in social media as long as the world doesn't end in '12

In 2008 when I was doing PR consulting with columbus imPRessions, I think my partner and I spent about 2,008 hours trying to convince clients to get on board the social media train.  At that time, the train was  moving slow, had plenty of room available and there was some time before it would be really taking off. It blows my mind to think how much things have changed since those days. I read somewhere that 41% of businesses plan to increase their social media marketing investment in 2012. Whether it’s hiring internally or paying a third-party agency or consultant, companies are jumping on the fast moving train, and probably wishing they had boarded sooner, before it got so crowded and confusing. I’ll just say it… Told ya so.

It actually is understandable why there was hesitation in 2008 when these social channels may have seemed like a fad. But we can say with certainty that social media is here to stay and it will continue to get more sophisticated. Companies should no longer be asking themselves whether they should have a social media presence, but instead if they are doing enough and doing it right.

The challenge for many companies today is that no matter the type or size of a business, social media is time consuming and there truly is an art to it.  In order to be effective you have to be willing to go big, be creative and present all the time, and have an innate understanding of what I call the “people perspective”  while  keeping up with the constantly evolving lingo and technology.  And that is just the beginning. It certainly can be overwhelming, especially when the time and talent is just not there.

As a communication professional and social media addict, I see an exciting year ahead in 2012. Next post… how to get my personal life train back on track.