Saving cool stuff

Off Peak is leaving Twitter. There is so much spam on X now that it is not worth the time. And so many new followers I don't understand. 

Anyone remember Empire Avenue? I am starting to think somebody thought the gamification process was real. 

I learned the hard way with another job not to delete an account, but only to cleanse it and park it. That way no one can steal your handle.

As part of the curation process, I'm saving some cool things and wondering if I need a link tree :)

https://linktr.ee/efa_editors

https://linktr.ee/bels_editors

https://linktr.ee/Thewriterscoop

https://www.webemployed.com/

https://linktr.ee/mrdeadlier

https://linktr.ee/buffalofambase

https://www.upwork.com/

https://www.fiverr.com/

https://linktr.ee/fwj

I am also sad to see how hard it is to find people I already like on Mastodon and I already lost one iteration to a dead server farm and overwhelmed admin. Pinning my first account (@cpd623@masthead.social) in case it ever comes back. Launching new social feels much harder this time. 

Twitter is now X

 And all I can think is that the new owner is a quitter. Although the person who called it Xitter and pronounced the X like SH might have a point. 

Going to delete my Off Peak Twitter account this week. Currently running my archive and then I'll delete everything and make it private. I don't want someone else to take my handle, but I'm not going to engage over there anymore. 

Twitter was such an astounding place once it got going. Mastodon isn't quite there yet and I don't trust Meta.  

Where are you heading now to participate in a social space? 

2023: A year of change

Looking back at this blog, I see how much has changed AGAIN.  Not only is Facebook still being difficult, now Twitter is no longer a positive place to be. I'm hanging in with it to stay connected to people I've learned so much from, but I'm finding more connections with LinkedIn alongside dipping my toes into Mastodon.  

From a work perspective, this image represents my year. Do you think it means taking a chance on change? Or make a change to get a better chance? I think both-and will be the goal for the year. 

The number 23 is significant to me and I am happy to be in 2023 contemplating next steps across the board. Let me know if I can help your business do the same... what changes do you need to make? What cleanup are you doing post-pandemic to clear the decks for your next big adventure? 

Video Trick

Writing this blog post to share a really cool trick I learned for how to crop a horizontal video for Instagram. So much easier than manual cropping. 

Thanks to Allie and Will for the tip about how to auto reframe video content. 

Golden Nuggets

I've been asked to share what I learned at my conference with my coworkers and realized that the most valuable part of the experience were the people.  At lunch on Monday I solved a problem for work after quizzing the table.  During a session on Tuesday, I found two tools to make my life easier.  Plus I got to hang out with some really interesting people I'm now following on social.

Life is all about continuous learning. 

About me

I'm starting to realize that I have profiles all over the place and I forget them regularly.  Today's surprise? About.me.  I haven't logged in there for years.  So, it's now gone. 

But I did like my personal description so I'm archiving it here :)

My hobbies and activities shaped my life. After joining The Griffin at Canisius College, I turned my biology degree into a career as a technical writer, college administrator and social media maven. When I was the only person on a marketing team who knew what "html" meant, I became a content manager, site developer and advocate for accessibility. I'm currently working in Web Services at the University at Buffalo where I love working on the channels that help to recruit and retain our students.

I'm the meanest mother in the world and a confirmed sci-fi fantasy geek – anyone else see ALL six original Star Wars movies on opening weekend? I'll have to update this to seven in December when I see it, but I've got my tickets!

Just remember that the worst someone can do is say no. If they say yes, we move forward, if they say no we find another way to get the job done, but the worst thing I can do is not ask. Let's all learn something new today and make the world a better place.

Happy April

Spring has finally arrived in Buffalo! I've seen tons of robins and the tufted titmouse bird is back calling "peeter, peeter" over and over again. Makes me miss my son...

I managed to stay pretty healthy all winter until the weather changed and now I'm lucky my coworkers haven't tossed me on my ear with my coughing in my cube. I was not the first to get sick around here, but after years in a hospital setting I am super sensitive to making people sick because of my illness.

You would think getting laid low by a virus would help the book reading efforts but sadly no. I just keep sleeping!  The updates for this cycle are both from the diaconate weekend. We finished Mary's Song last weekend and I read Contemplative Prayer to get ready for a discussion about a theological reflection. Got some other Merton books out of the library and I am looking forward to reading them when I can stay awake.

Work has been amazing though. We had the best social media around Accepted Students Day at #ubuffalo this year. Just amazing. It felt like Christmas I was having so much fun. Plus I'm getting a bit more into marketing efforts and that feels so familiar. I love web content but sometimes it helps to step out, see the big picture and then go back in and figure out how best to tell the story in the individual areas.

Books and Work and NCAA

Update on the reading (three more done). Am tracking all of them on this Pinterest board cause I'm lousy at the running count ! It says 21 so far, so I'm well ahead of the goal. I am sure real life will stop me at some point LOL.

• 700 Sundays by Billy Crystal
• The Blessing by John Trent
• League of Denial: The NFL, Concussions and the Battle for Truth by ESPN reporters

I tried to read a Rex Stout mystery but just could not bring myself to sort through the old-fashioned language and sexist attitudes. I know that noir literature is like that but I just was not in the mood.

So, next I'm going to read the Divergent series. We have a rule in my house that you are not supposed to see a movie until you have read the book. As Maggie points out regularly, I have not held Matthew to that standard all the time. But he was a baby when we started reading Harry Potter and I wasn't going to stop him from enjoying those movies. However, I am enforcing that rule with the Hunger Games, Enders Game and Divergent. So, now I have to read those books!

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Off Peak Update
I am in the process of launching some new initiatives for the Tri-State Consortium including surveys to help with their research, an experts roster and expanded LinkedIn options. I'm excited to work on their materials because it is such a great way for me to connect all of my marketing and highered experience.  Plus, it helps me to start new projects because it keeps me current. I find sometimes that we just let things ride until we are forced to change. By continuing to expand my skills, I can bring new ideas to work and vice versa. Grateful for these opportunities. 

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Just a note about the NCAA.  Boy, the brackets are broken. I don't recall any other tourney where there have been so many upsets. But the basketball has been amazing to watch. I love March Madness !

Connecting my Tumblr account

I'm new to Tumblr. Wanted to connect a few things and discovered that they no longer connect rss feeds. I am using IFTTT to create a work around for this problem. I love IFTTT, you create recipes and they respond for you.

So, if this works, this post will automatically go there. And I'll be one step closer to solving as issue at work.

Connecting Pinterest

So, I'm slowing connecting all my social media channels together. Today I'm focused on Pinterest. I enjoy spending time on the site, so I'm going to start adding new content there. I have some creative moments (when I have time) and I've gotten fun ideas from the site that I've used.

If you're on Pinterest, let's connect. http://www.pinterest.com/cpd623/  My most recent board features my birthday cakes. I will slowly upload all my photos from over the years.

American Lit

So, I got into a discussion on twitter about American Lit (note, I work in higher ed, so intellectual discussions are possible 140 characters at a time). I hated American Lit in high school, managed to talk my teacher into letting me read War & Peace instead. Yes, Russian fiction in lieu of three American lit novels. The page count was greater and she was excited to be able to tell people one of her students read that book. I was excited to skip the whiny novels.

So, as an adult, when I could not contribute to the discussion about which American authors are better, I asked for suggestions of what to read. I was told these novels:

Invisible Man (already read)
Angle of Repose
Sound and Fury
Absalom, Absalom
Death Comes for the Archbishop
Slaughterhouse Five (already read)

My dad's favorite book of all time is the Old Man and the Sea (already read). Another suggestion outside of twitter was Of Mice and Men (already read).

Since the twitter exchange I have read two of the books (Angle of Repose and Death Comes for the Archbishop) and I discussed Slaughterhouse Five with my son.

I went and looked for a list of great American Novels, I've read 25 of them. Was surprised to have so many. 

I will go get the Faulkner novels from the library and attempt them. But I'll be honest. As beautiful as some of the descriptions of the wild west, I still find these novels whiny. My issue with American Lit 30 years ago and still today is that we don't have enough history here to claim any understanding of the world. We are only a few generations removed from people who believed in miracles and came here. The disappointment these authors report is inevitable. Reality is always harsh. I find that these characters are so busy being disappointed in their lives that they miss the beauty being described around them. And I want to shake them.

Do you feel differently about American Lit? Why? Help me see the other side. 

Roswell Thoughts

Another Ride for Roswell is over. It is always my anniversary weekend and I've been involved I think in all 17 of the events. I used to work for the Alliance Foundation as a freelancer (started late 1993) and joined the Institute as a medical writer in 1998. Stayed for almost 11 years before heading over to UB. Since UB hosts the event, I still help out the event creating social media updates and telling stories. It is a major part of my life and maybe someday I'll actually get on a bike and ride!



This photo sums up a lot for me. Everyone involved has a story to tell. My story, aside from having been a member of the team, is that my Mom was a nurse at Roswell Park, my son volunteered there and my mother-in-law died of breast cancer. We are all touched by cancer and need to remember that every day is precious.

heweb11

Ok, I know a week after the event is late to be sharing.... but I needed time to process what I learned at higheredweb. You can read some of my key thoughts here: http://storify.com/cpd623/heweb11 and see a lot of the presentations here http://link.highedweb.org/.

I spent pretty much every moment in Austin in session or talking to someone who was teaching me something. Four solid days of learning. It was incredible and intense. I distilled all the info into 20 "golden nuggets;" five books to read and 15 things I should think about doing. Upon further reflection I picked seven action items. I started working on three of them today and it was a wonderful morning... still doing my job but doing it in a new light. Really energized and excited to keep learning and making things better. The most illuminating idea I had was this: (and if I ever get to do a presentation I'm going to call it this) Who, What, Where, Why and When... new definitions in today's online world.

• Who: Everyone really, you are no longer limited to the people physically in your space or who can buy your newspaper or get your press release
• What: need to sort what is of interest in new ways... don't tell stories the same way to all your audiences
• Where: again, no limits, if you can connect online you can share with all
• Why: make it meaningful so others help share stories
• When: NOW, is better, but after the fact might be OK if can bring insight and illumination along with it. The past is no longer an excuse... have your audience help tell story if you are strapped.

Thanks to the heweb11 world for invigorating me again. Once I'm over this cold I caught on the plane I'll be busier than ever!

NOTE: Storify no longer exists as a platform. Which is sad, I used to love that. Found my story on the WayBack Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20180104100906/http://storify.com/cpd623/heweb11 

Empire Avenue

OK, I am annoyed right now. Earlier today I logged into EA, checked my social graph and went about my business. Just tried to go back on my lunch and found my account has been deleted. I'm not sure what I did or what I clicked, but unless someone decided to hack into my account, I must have hit something. I did modify some privacy settings in facebook this AM, but, I was under the impression that EA was a separate entity. Now I am not so sure.

It would appear that my whole account is now gone. And I'm not going to spend the time bringing it back. So, if we connected on EA along the way, I'm sorry for this error. If Empire Avenue can figure out how to salvage my account, then I'll continue, but since my primary peer groups never connected there, this might actually end up being a blessing in disguise.

Oh what a tangled web we are weaving.... this is certainly a wake-up call for what is connected where.

Cleaning up the social media

I think I'm overwhelmed. There are way too many social media accounts out there. With the advent of Google+ everything is shooting into overdrive.

So, I decided to start looking for any account I ever opened. So far I've cleaned up six old accounts and am debating if I "need" my other profiles out there.

Then in one last major attempt to purge a little bit from the ether, I found an old blog tied to a website with a previous employer. Deleted. But in the same venue I found two other work related blogs tied to that company too. I thought I'd left instructions of how to manage/delete, but they were overlooked. Three years later I was contacting my replacement to let her know they are there.

Makes me wonder what else is buried out there. I'm glad to say that I've always been well behaved on the internet, so even if I've really lost something, it's ok if someone finds later.

About.me

Well, new social media platforms are cropping up all over the place. Today Klout partnered with Spotify to give early adopters a way to sign up quickly. While I have a Klout profile, I'm not into the Spotify insanity. I prefer quiet when I code so streaming music is not something I'm going to chase down.

The twitterverse is jumping all over Spotify, so perhaps now Google+ will have a chance to catch up. While many of my colleagues are in G+ now, many are not. So, I'm still checking multiple platforms to pull my info stream together.

As part of a way to streamline my SM, I recalled About.me (http://about.me/cpd623). I had signed up for an account last October but they never notified me when they opened it up. So, I had my name saved, but couldn't access it. Finally got it all fixed this am. Still way too much stuff to check, but until the dust settles, I think I'm in for a lot of touching base all over the web.

Google Plus

Finally got into Google Plus, so now I have to learn about it. A few thoughts right off the bat:
1. People seem really excited to have an alternative to facebook
2. The sorting into circles is awesome. Can control the flow of info much better.
3. The slowness of invites is hampering the process, but may not affect in the long run. We have to remember facebook started off only on college campuses and had plenty of testing time before being opened to the world.

On the negative side, I now have another place I have to check daily, so my time on any platform will be lessened. I also don't know how many of my friends will migrate again. My colleagues are definitely embracing google+, so perhaps I'll end up with a social platform (facebook) and work platforms (twitter and google). In the long run that might be better.

Privacy and the web

So, I'm rethinking some of the sites to which I am a member. Recently I've blogged about Empire Avenue but what amazes me is how deep they are finding my social media connections. I got "credit" for liking a video on youtube over a year ago. That made me think, well, where else have I visited in the past three years, five years, decade? I'm an early adopter of the internet, been using it all along.

So, I started looking. I found a "website" I created for a class (took it down); found a blog I used for testing stuff (took it down), remembered I joined a community to help with some health and wellness goals (decimated the personal info on it but stayed a member); am checking my personal settings on facebook again (I check that sucker weekly, they change the rules too often) and am thinking that I probably need to do a bit more searching to make sure I'm not missing anything else.

The most important thing to me is that I keep my private life private and my social life protected. I want to share my thoughts and learn about yours, I want to be more productive at work and share in global thoughts and learning, but I have to remember at the end of the day, keeping these separate protects my family the most.

Empire Avenue Update

So yesterday was my most "productive" day on Empire Avenue:
Earnings: 135.38e
Dividends/Investment Earnings: 130.47e
Other Earnings: 805.48e
You spent: 4784.13e

My current "value" is e25.61 (+1.067).

I'd originally joined the "game" because of a surge of highered and social media colleagues joining. I thought it might be a way to connect with some different, albeit similar, folks and follow them on twitter to expand my knowledge base.

What I've found is a very involved writers group. And I've read a new book because of them and I'm "re"thinking about a novel I started a long time ago. I have no idea where it will go, but it is nice to be energized again about my writing.

Follow Up: Change is Now

I rarely check my personal email anymore... in fact sometimes I go a few days without looking at it. Most of my friends are on facebook (so I "see" them daily) and my colleagues are on twitter or email me at work.

My workflow changed subtly... I used to check email at least three times a day... but now I need to set a tickler so I don't miss school stuff or emails from my folks. I much prefer the flow of info from the new social media channels.

The other major change is how I can avoid ads... at least a lot of the time. I've stopped turning on my radio in my car (mind you my commute is only 8 minutes now, but still) and we "tape" everything we watch so we can skip the commercials as we watch a show. Yesterday my youngest and I were looking at bird cams and were both annoyed by a "required" ad to see a nest. He dumped it from his list of cams to check.

How has your workflow/entertainment flow changed in the past year? Five years? Decade?