Drew Griffin

Why are you attending Podcamp Ohio? Is it for the networking that exists among the attendees? Are you promnoting yourself , your blog and podcast? Are you looking to fine tune your skills for the next year? Or is it a combination of reasons?

I was asked this question by a few people that I shared my schedule with who are not in my “circle” of podcasters, bloggers and computer enthusiasts. I got to thinking about the question to determine exactly what it is that I am attending tjis and several upcoming events. The reasons that I am attending Podcamp Ohio and some of the other events like Ignite and TweetUps and other Social Media functions are for several reasons.

1. These Social Media events are Social and I am intrigued to meet and learn from some of the people that I interact with on occasion
2. This leads me to Networking with others that I can learn from and improve (start) new Podcasts. Who better to learn from than the pioneers that are Doing Podcasts and Blogging. Learning different styles and insight from these folks is quite invaluable.
3. To have Live discussion with people about some of my ideas and get their input on how I might go about it before I make some mistakes. Not that I am afraid of making mistakes, but if I can learn from several people about techniques and efficiencies before I go the “long way”, then I may accomplish my goals by emulating others that have had success (but add my twist and flavor, naturally)
4. Because its Kewl Man! C’mon, who doesn’t want to Geek on Out and Get some Swag and such?
5. Oh and to share a Beer with some peers…( I heard a Rumor that @Brandice is having a Kegger!)

Recently, I read a blog post by @chrisbrogan ‘On Falling and Flying’ in which he says …

It strikes me that people in business are afraid to fall. “We’ve been doing it this way all along, and even though the results are diminishing, we’re just going to keep doing this.” You’ve heard this, right?…This is how it’s done. You stand up. You take a breath. You step forward. What happens next is binary: either you fall or you do not. When you fall, you feel those sensations related to it (mostly bad things and negative things), and then you move forward.What does any of this have to do with business communications? Everything. There are no blueprints. We are all making them up. We will fall. But then, we will fly.

I couldn’t help but think of this video I took of my daughter Reagan having fun falling backwards. She was having so much fun doing it that I had fun too. Now I’m not saying we should always be this happy to fall, but we should be able to put things in perspective and have some fun doing it or look forward to getting up and try again. Just a thought. Enjoy the video!

So Podcamp Ohio is about 17 days away now and I am getting stoked! Well I am getting stoked for a few different reasons. The fact that I will be able to meet some of the creative and kewl people that I have interacted with over the past few years is a great highlight. People like @brandice, @aronpo, @doctoranonymous, and @jacobburke to name are a few of the folks that I am looking forward to meeting and hanging out with at the event.

I am also looking forward to meeting Angelo Mandato who is CIO of RawVoice, host of PluginsPodcast & CompiledWeekly podcasts, lead coordinator of PodCamp Ohio, Programmer (mainly C++/PHP), server administrator, blogger and podcaster. That was a mouthful to say the least.

There are many sessions I want to attend while I am at Podcamp Ohio like Social Media Marketing by Bill Balderaz and Courtney Cooper. That session looks interesting to me. I am also interesting in hearing Angelo’s session about podcasting plugin for WordPress. Aww heck, they all look pretty interesting. I will probably hop from session to session and get the lost I can from whatever is available.

Naturally, I wanna network as much as I can with my geek brothers and sisters! Oh and by the way…I am driving! No friggin way am I flying this trip.

So this weekend started off with a 6 hour drive to Wildwood NJ from Douglassville PA. (It usually takes about 2 hours) After a “trying” ride, we arrived at our house at the shore. The kids were a bit ansy and wanted badly to go to the boards for some ice cream. We obliged!

Keep BAD SEO from blowing up in your face

SEO can be stressful if you don’t know what you’re doing.

But I’ve found some relief right here.

Stompernet’s 7Deadly SEO Mistakes

Just like that guy in the movies who gets stuck defusing the bomb as the timer counts down to the last second…

If you don’t know what you’re doing, the search engines can blow up in your face. Fortunately, StomperNet’s back with a free 7 part course for us called “7 Deadly SEO Mistakes (And How To Avoid Them)” – and it is SWEET!

Stompernet’s 7 Deadly SEO Mistakes

I signed up yesterday and they’ve already started sending me unannounced bonus case studies to go along with the course.

Seriously, this is more content than some SEO courses I’ve PAID for.  And the quality is – well, it’s StomperNet.  So as usual it’s so good I can’t believe I’m NOT paying for it.

If you feel like your SEO strategy is a ticking time-bomb, this report is like getting a visit from the bomb squad just in time.

*snip* *snip*

SEO Disaster Avoided!

I’m really pleased with what they’ve sent me so far, and like I said, I’m only on the first day!  I think you can use this stuff, too.  These simple instructions might just save your bacon.

(Mmm, Bacon!)

Check it out – full details and a video detailing the course right here! You can sign up for it right on that page.

Check out Stompernet for 7 Deadly SEO Mistakes to avoid!

I know you’ll love it.

P.S. The little “joke” at the end of the video is worth a couple of minutes, even if you don’t want the report.  If you want a well-needed giggle, just click here and watch.

Oh man! I don’t mind traveling. But here is another one of those whiney Blog Posts about Flying. Lets start off by giving US Airways the benefit of the doubt. I had to travel Thursday evening to Buffalo NY. Lets list this out in sequence shall we?

1. I had to Travel to Buffalo.
2. I attempted to book from Philadelphia PA to Buffalo NY ( just northwest of Philadelphia PA)
3. I attempted to book the flight more than a week and ahead of time and the cost of a round trip (coach) ticket was over $600.00.
4. Being that I had to be in Baltimore MD on Saturday May 16th for WordCamp, I thought I’d check flights from there to Buffalo NY, so when I returned I would be in Baltimore (BTW, South of Philadelphia which would make Philadelphia PA, half way or between Buffalo NY and Baltimore.)
5. The cost of a round trip ticket from Baltimore to Buffalo and back…..$168.00
6. There was a lay over involved. Guess where the lay over was located? Philadelphia PA. WTF? Are you kidding me?
7. My flight was supposed to leave Baltimore at 8:56 pm. Luckily, I overheard another passenger who was supposed to be on that flight that the flight to Philly would be 1.5 hrs late, which would make me miss my connecting flight. ( Can you see where this is going?)
8. Sooooo, the ticket agent attempted to help me get to Buffalo NY in time. It looks like I wasn’t going to be able to make it and would have to cancel the trip. But Wait! The telephone rang….it was Carlos! Carlos informed the ticket agent that if I hurried, I could be re-routed to Charlotte NC, and then get a direct flight to Buffalo NY. Sweet!
9. Something didn’t seem right.
10. And it wasn’t. I barely made the flight which was on the other side of the terminal. Then I got stuck in the middle seat, between two people. One was eating  ( God only knows what it was ) which stank to high heavans. The other person was rather malodorous and tried to hide it with perfume. Could this really be happening?
11. I get to Charlotte NC and have minutes to spare to get to my connecting flight.
12. I make it
13. I catch my connecting flight, and end up in another middle seat but get moved to the window seat, thanks to the couple I was sitting with. Thank-you. Then it began. The couple is fighting and arguing the entire flight. Jesus, can’t anyone just be quiet or not be so bothersome?
14. I arrive in Buffalo NY at 11:51 pm. Wait for it….wait for it…….and no Luggage! WTF! Ya gotta be Fu*&%$# Kidding Me Right? Where is my luggage…which contains one of my two laptops (figures it was a PC), my equipment that I have to install and my clothes etc. So I go to customer service for US Airways. “Ummmm, hello, where is my luggage?”….its in Philadelphia! For the Love of All that is Holy!!!!!!! (At this point, I felt like Steve Martin from Planes, Trains and Automobiles….I want my Fu*&%$# Luggage ,Right Fu&%$#@ Now!).
15. “I’m sorry sir, that plane won’t arrive into Buffalo NY until 9:30-10:00 am tomorrow.
16. My appointment is for 8:00 am.
17. WTF
18. I get to my hotel at 3:30 am.
19. I sleep for about 3  hours.
20. I get some breakfast and head to the airport.
21. Luggage never arrives.
22. I go to meet our client. Luckily I had the software with me.
23. I leave and go back to the airport to head back to Baltimore MD.
24. WordCamp (WordPress) here I come
25. The Buffalo Wings and Guinness were good!!!!

I wish the ticket agent could have had the insight to either re-route my luggage or just tell me I wasn’t going to make it. Belive me I appreciate the effort but I would have appreciated less of a hassle than just going to Buffalo NY for Hot Wings!

I love this tool. Tweet Later is a really cool productivity tool if you are busy but want to provide value to your followers or anyone that needs to provide a continuous stream of value to their clients, customers or just want to have a better control over your Twitter experience. I recently used this service and took advantage of their trail period. The service has a free version and a paid Pro Version which I think is totally worth every penny. If you manage several Twitter accounts with any real necessity you should subscribe to this service. It is quite diverse and is saving me a ton of time and allows me ‘not to have to be in front of my computer’. Here are some of the awesomeness features of Tweet Later:

• Schedule tweets — Plan, set & forget!
• Track keywords on Twitter — Empower yourself!
• Save and reuse drafts — Save hours of typing!
• Send welcome DMs to new followers — Automate!
• Bit.ly URL shortening — Track those clicks!
• Follow those who follow you — Automate!
• Unfollow those who unfollow you — Automate!
• Vet new followers — Semi-automation!
• Purge your DM Inbox — Keep it tidy!
• Personal status feed — Your own tweet engine!
• Unlimited Twitter accounts — No charge! (KEWL!!!!!!)

And then their is the Pro Version: (Which includes all of the previous and the following)

• Manage all your Twitter accounts — One integrated console!
• Integrate all timelines & keywords — Boost your productivity!
• Filter your timelines — Tune in only on favorite friends
• Do the same action on multiple accounts — One click, save time!
• Forward DMs to others — No copy & paste!
• Mute annoying tweeters — Avoid frustrations!
• Hide read tweets — Unclutter your view!
• Highly configurable — Make it suit your exact needs!
• Delegate your Twitter account management — Free up time!
• Schedule @replies and DMs — Send when recipient is online!
• Schedule recurring tweets — Without them being repetitive!
• Pause & unpause recurring tweets — Fine-tune campaigns!
• Run your own Twitter bots — Fully automate accounts!
• Ping.fm integration — Feed Facebook & MySpace!
• Get all new enhancements — No extra charge!

I upgraded to the Pro Version and am thrilled with the service thus far. Check out TweetLater.com and give the trial a shot. Its painless and won’t cost you a dime. You can check out all of the Pro Version features for a week and it will revert back to the Free versin after the trial, unless you upgrade.

I will be attending WordCamp Mid-Atlantic on Saturday May 16th in Baltimore Weekend. I am stoked to be attending this event as it is somewhat close to my home in PA. There are some sessions that seem quite interesting and filled with learning opportunity. As always these events are great for networking. Below is the schedule for the day. What seems interesting to you and why would you particularly attend one of those sessions?

8am-8:30am

Registration

8:30am-9am

WordCamp Mid-Atlantic Opening -Aaron Brazell [Aud]

9am-10am

Keynote – Anil Dash [Aud]

10am-10:45am

• Measuring Online Influence: Why Bloggers Blog – Micah Baldwin [Aud]
• Thesis Theme Developer Hacks – Brad Williams [BC-143]

11am-11:45am

• Being a Balanced Blogger – Jared Goralnick [Aud]
• WordPress SEO – Sri Nagubandi and John Shehata [BC-143]

12 noon-1:20pm

Lunch (on your own)

1:30pm-2:25pm

• Photoblogging – Marc Benton [Aud]
• WordPress Caching – Brandon Savage [BC-143]

2:30pm-3:25pm

• Blogging in Government – Understanding the Landscape – Andrea Baker [Aud]
• Twitter, Friendfeed and Social Tools – Extending the blog beyond the blog – Dan Zarrella [BC-143]

3:30pm-4:30pm

Keynote – Mark Jaquith [Aud]

4:30pm-5pm

Closing – Aaron Brazell

I am interested in attending most of these sessions but plan to focus on WordPress SEO. Hopefully I’ll be able to pick up as much as I can from the other sessions and as always the Networking will be key.

Ok, so some of you who have read some of my previous posts may remember that I watch The Biggest Loser. I’m sucked in man! I think that we all can relate to some of the story lines or experiences that the contestants have gone through or have shared.

Even if you are not a fan of the show, its hard to argue with the amazing changes the contestants have experienced. How does the saying go? “A Picture is worth a thousand words!” In this case the contestants as a whole have lost more than a thousand (1000) lbs.

If you pay close attention to the contest and the story lines, its hard not to have an opinion on who you think will or should win. My opinion is that they are all winners for doing what they have done thus far with their weight and body transformations. The psychological changes they go through are equally impressive. C’mon, last night’s episode, the four remaining contestants had to complete a full marathon. Granted two of the four actually ran the marathon, and two walked the marathon.

Motivational to say the least. What is my excuse? Yeah, I know!

So who do I think will win and who do I want to win? Never thought you’d ask! I think Tara will win as her history and momentum seems insurmountable. However, I think Mikey has a chance to squeek this one out as Tara may hit a plateau and doesn’t really have a whole lot more weight to lose. I’m not so sure about Helen.

I’d like to see Mikey win the whole thing as he has had the most profound visual body change of all of the contestants, with Tara having a close second. I also think Mikey can be a great role model for his brother Max who is as big, if not bigger than Mikey used to be.

That being said, it is nothing short of emotional and amazing to see the dramatic changes all of these people have undergone. I applaud them for their changes. I hope to have a fraction of their success.

I know, I know, I know…the debate goes on. I used to have a Dell and I had nothing but trouble. For me, I just want to turn on my computer and have it work. I want to be able to do the things I need to do without FAIL! This guy above must obviously have some anxiety issues with his PC!!!

I’m a Mac!