Many things happening, life at laser warp speed, but it’s all good. How about you? What’s going on in your part of the world?
Many people have asked about the book; it’s taken a long and winding detour, but is definitely not grounded, just docked in a temporary holding pattern. I’m afraid to make any further date commitments and would rather surprise everyone and just release it when it’s finally ready to take flight, and then I’ll announce it. Question to all: Should I make it available as just an e-book only, or e-book and paperback? Please leave a comment below email eva {at} evaabreu {dot} com with your thoughts.
Currently planning the first NJ Social Media Conference on Friday, June 18, 2010 at the Crowne Plaza - Somerset. Lots of details to take care of, if you’re interested in helping behind the scenes, I’ll gladly accept your help and hopefully, give you the opportunity to learn some new skills and add some experience to your resume. Contact me for further info.
Hoping to have the chance to catch up with you soon, so you can update me on where in the world you are these days : ) Drop me a note, or hit me up on Twitter or Facebook to fill me in.
One of the many hats that I wear includes one that represents the Organizing Coach part of me.
(in fact, that’s how I got started in learning about today’s Social Media, when I started experimenting with writing blogs for my organizing coaching business and moderating a network that I created on Ryze, called Sort Thing Out - Getting Organized which has since faded into the background, with the advent of Twitter and Facebook and who knows what’s next!)
Recently I’ve been doing a series of presentations about Decluttering and Organizing, including a 10 week course at OLLI-Rutgers Continuing Education and several workshops at the Edison Public Library and Sayreville Public Library.
We’ve been covering a whole host of topics, including decluttering and organizing electronic files.
So, I figured I better walk the walk… especially after experiencing a system meltdown. What better time to do some much needed e-cleaning?
In digging through e-archives, here’s an blog post that I wrote back in 2005 from a blog that is no longer active:
Thursday, October 13, 2005
“Living with Less”
As a follow up to my previous post on gift-giving, here are a few thoughts, coming from a local Holistic Moms group meeting and from other sources that I’ve read about in the past, regarding how to curb the excess materialism and prevent the “buy me!” syndrome with your kids:
1. Ask your relatives to cut back on the number of presents they give to your kids (this is a tough one, especially with “old school” family members, or long distance grandparents).
2. Ask for clothes, instead of toys.
3. Request gift certificates, savings bonds, or money for college fund.
4. Suggest giving books, instead of toys.
5. Donation Birthday Party, where guests are asked to bring either new or gently used books, videos, etc. to donate to a local charity. I did this with my kindergartener, for two years in a row. It wasn’t easy, he wasn’t too happy about it, but I did remind him, quite often, that he would be getting the toys on his “list” from us, and from his aunts & uncles.
6. For every new toy received, an old toy has to be donated.
(There are definitely more ideas out there, this is just a quickie summary).
Otherwise, as moms, we find it very frustrating to try to fight the Media, the Mega-toy stores and the Message that society conveys: “gotta have that! I NEED to have that!”.
What are your thoughts or suggestions on how we can make a difference with our children to curb the excess toy syndrome? What is the “little something” we can do every day, to try and reinforce this change of habit with our kids, to “Live with Less” stuff? Feel free to post your thoughts in the Comments section.
Is this still relevant today?
With today’s economy, can we learn to live with less, regardless if you have kids or not?
What can you clean out today? (Got any old hats or baseball caps like the one above that have lived past their prime?)
Let me know if you do any releasing, clearing, or decluttering today.
…leaving you with Eva’s Edict: “Throw It Out Thursday”
Take 10 minutes and sort through a pile to release today. Leave a comment or tweet me back with what you’ve released.
Have you ever gone on vacation to a new or different place and thought to yourself, “it’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there”?
Photo by Albany_Tim
That’s what goes through my mind when I travel, regardless of how luxurious or scenic the place is. There’s no place like home (at least for me).
Sure, I go back and visit certain vacation spots that I really like, but I always return back home again.
The same goes for Social Media (and this is just my own personal opinion); it’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there (all the time).
Photo by Albany_Tim
I know I’ll probably upset some folks who do spend their time online, all the time; and by no means do I intend any disrespect at all.
It’s just for me, I like to have a balance between my online social networking time and my offline, F2F time (face-to-face or phone-to-phone time).
For those just starting out in learning about social media and feel like they are missing out because they don’t have a lot of time to spend, I say: relax, take it one step at a time, one site at a time, and try it out, even if it’s just a few minutes at a time.
I recommend approaching social media as if it were a vacation:
Take some time to plan and do a little research
Ask around for some advice on where to go and what to do
Keep your personal belongings safely stowed
Realize that your suitcase might get opened and your dirty laundry exposed when you least expect it
Upon arrival, look around, spend some time and learn the culture and language
Engage in conversation with the locals
Most important: Food. What did you have for lunch? We’d all like to know ; )
What are your thoughts about spending time on Social Media?
Time and space permitting, I’ll include selected comments in my forthcoming book, Reaching for the Moon and the Stars, The Legacy and Influence of the Apollo Generation.
Thanks and regards,
Eva Abreu, Author
Reaching For The Moon and the Stars Book Pre-Orders
I’d like to hear your NJ Twitter business success story (for possible inclusion in my next column).
Please answer the questions below and return via email. Make sure you have permission of any person, business or organization that you mention. Thanks!
Q1: Tell us about your Twitter business success story.
Q2: How long did it take from initial contact with the other Twitter user, up to this point? (i.e. How many days/months did it take from the first time you connected with this Twitter user, until you reach a milestone in your success story)
Q3: How long have you been on Twitter?
Q4: How much time per day do you spend on Twitter?
Q5: Your contact info: Email, Telephone number, your website
Q6: For verification: Please provide the contact info for any person, business or organization that is mentioned in your story.
Please email your responses to eva at evaabreu dot com
Here’s the debut of my new bi-weekly business column on Social Media in Gannett’s NJ newspapers: The Home News Tribune, Courier News and myCentralJersey.com
I’ll be writing a new bi-weekly Business column covering Social Media for the Home News Tribune, Courier News, and www.mycentraljersey.com/business starting Jan. 13. I’m planning a Q&A segment each week and would like to ask for your input.
The first topic is: Social Media Networking Events (tweetups, face-to-face networking, etc).
What questions do you have about Social Media Networking Events?
Do you have advice for first-time attendees or coordinators?
Please leave a comment below with your questions or tips and advice.
(NYC Tweetup was held on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009 at Atrium Lounge, 8th Floor, Marriott Marquis Times Square)
I really enjoy organizing Tweetups. For those of you who don’t know what a Tweetup is, it’s a live, in-person networking meeting of folks who know each other online from Twitter (or Facebook or other Social Networking site). Twitter + meetup= Tweetup. Some amazing things take place when you have the chance to meet people face-to-face.
I had the opportunity to coordinate a second Tweetup with David Mathison, Author of Be The Media, this past Saturday, Sept. 19, right after the Writer’s Digest Conference in Manhattan (the first Tweetup we coordinated together was the NYC Social Media Cruise on August 27th). It’s been a real privilege to work together with David to put together these events and to be able to meet people that I never would have had the chance to otherwise.
Below is a quick slideshow that I put together of some photos from the 9/19 Tweetup. Special thanks to Sandra Lee Schubert for her photos.
I’ll be writing more in a future post about the people that I met and connections made.
In the meantime, I would recommend finding some time on a regular basis to connect and collaborate offline, whether by phone, email, IM, Skype, or in-person with some new online contacts. You’ll never know what opportunities may come of it!
Contact me online or offline to talk more about this topic; I’d love to hear from you!
I have to say, it’s been taking much, much longer than expected to finish the process of publishing my first book Reaching for the Moon and the Stars.
I’ve had to revise the release date yet again, to mid-September 2009early 2010.
In the meantime though, I’d like to give you a preview of the book cover (created by Rick Wolff) and also Chapter 1 which discusses the legacy and influence of John F. Kennedy and his vision to reach the moon.
Let me know what you think of Chapter 1 by leaving a comment below or via the Contact Form.
For my first attempt at self-publishing a book, I’m learning the hard way what it takes to get it to print. I tend to learn best this way, though, by doing it all myself the first time, then deciding what parts to delegate for the next time around.
The research part came relatively easily and I thank all the folks who I interviewed, who were willing to freely share their stories. They were truly inspirational and touching. Also a big thank you for those who helped with the behind-the-scenes research and compiling sources. I now have so much information that the hard part is deciding what to keep and what to leave out for inclusion in future volumes. Plus, I’m continuing to uncover brand new information every day as I complete the process of cross-checking sources for attribution, rights and clearances.
The writing and editing part is what’s been really getting me bogged down. I thought the writing would come much more easily and faster than it actually has, but I find myself writing, then re-writing, then revising yet again, trying to get it perfect. Also, I get burned out after a certain amount of time of working on it, and need to completely disengage myself from the project for a while, in order to come back again with a clear head and renewed attitude. That’s why you’ll see me pop up on Twitter or Facebook every once in a while, chatting about something completely off-topic from the book.
Finding blocks of time has been difficult as I’m home with the kids for the summer, trying to keep them occupied and prevent arguments from bubbling up. And also sitting for hours on end has been a challenge for me because I’m more used to being up and about and active. I hope this doesn’t come across as complaining or whining because that’s the last thing that I want to come across as, a complainer. I just wanted to give you a little glimpse of what’s happening behind the scenes. Any suggestions or advice on how this process could be made easier would be most welcome!
What keeps me going though, is knowing that you, who are reading this and who have been so supportive through the last several weeks, have told me that you are looking forward to the book coming out. I am truly grateful for your kind words, your tremendous encouragement and generous offers to help. I can’t let you down, so I’m pushing forward to complete this.
Thank you again for sticking with me through it all as I continue to get this baby out into the world. I am grateful for you being there. Best regards, Eva
In the words of Walter Cronkite, “Go Baby, Go!”
F-1 Engine of Saturn V rocket, Apollo 11
Photo by Eva Abreu, taken at Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, Washington, D.C., Aug. 2009
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