Networking is it Live or Social? Discuss.

I went to a live networking event last night at the Met Club sponsored by the Business Alliance Committee. Members of the Mid America Club (MAC as they seem to like to call it), although I personally wouldn't be thrilled with that moniker. Anyway, nice turn out met some interesting people. But the biggest revelation of the night for me was talking about social networking. I know I'm relatively new to all this but I was shocked, SHOCKED to hear that folks PAY companies to set up twitter, linkedin, Facebook accounts for them. Now I know this is routinely done for companies who are not sure how to handle these tools for the general public and legal needs to get their two cents in to protect the company. However, why would individuals need this service? I'm guessing it's because they don't understand the space and are afraid to just put something out there. Where I lose track is setting it up and learning about it first hand is what I find/found most interesting. And there are folks out there willing to add their two cents on this.

On the flip side if there's someone who wants me to help them set up some accounts I would be willing to help them. Depending on the level of advise and expertise I suppose a consulting fee would be appropriate. It's all news to me.

I also volunteered to help out with the clubs leap into social media. I think this will be fun and I'm sure a case study as to how a small to mid-size company can take advantage of this emerging landscape. All very exciting.

Tweet...Tweet...Tweet

I have been remiss in commenting about social media in general. I have been spending an inordinate amount of time learning about and using social media. I now tweet. I'm on Facebook, have been for quite awhile. I also use Social Browsing, which is part of Firefox. All this in the name of education. Obviously, I have a blog. I initially thought I needed to learn everything I could so I could share the knowledge with my media class at Roosevelt.

It's been interesting that's for sure. Everyday I learn something new, a little trick about how to get my page(s) to look better. Better ways to connect and share info. New sources for info. All great stuff. I find my passion for social media to be much more intense than that of my students.

Although with social media I thought my students, who are mainly in their mid 20's would be embracing and using social media at an alarming rate they were actually quite blase about it. They didn't want people (friends, family, stalkers) to know where they were and what they were doing. Interesting. Granted this a focus group of 25 but still, weren't they the ones everyone thought was using this medium. Huh.

They all heard about it, some tried it, some did use it, but not often, and some just outright refused to use it. Again my tiny focus group did prove that the ones who were using it mainly had jobs and used it at work. Another interesting tidbit. Proving yet again that folks will use any outlet they can to chat about their jobs, bosses and the endless inequity that comes along with those two things.

So now the question is, are only celebrities, middle-aged people and media folks the majority who are using these things these days?

I guess we'll find out as more marketers explore these venues to target consumers, and they force their hand to find out exactly who these people are and why they take part in social networking. Stay tuned!

Still searching

for the right home. Boy this house hunting thing can be grueling. We've traveled north, south, and east and still nothing is quite right. I must say that at least we found one contender today. Just need to figure out how much it will take to add air conditioning, remodel the existing kitchen and bathroom and some other relatively minor work. It's on a great street in Beverly. We LOVE the neighborhood. We're waiting to hear back were the owners are on price and offers before we move forward.

It's exciting and scary at the same time. We all it's a great time to buy, low mortgage rates, lots of incentives. But it's also tough to tell how much is too much anymore. How much will any neighborhood hold it's value? We're feeling very confident in the Beverly area. Prices are still somewhat reasonable and there's a good chance the properties will hold their value or even improve in 5-7 years. Cautiously optimistic - is the phrase you keep hearing over and over again.

The one thing that is hard to believe is how different and unique every single home is. Some have great room space and some are so chopped up it makes up wonder what the heck were they thinking. We're looking for something on a larger lot, which is why we're most likely to end up in Beverly. I know we can't live in the standard 25x125 Chicago lot. Too close to the neighbors!

So the hunt continues....there is still a corner lot (my personal favorite) out there we haven't been able to see yet. Maybe that's the one. Stay tuned .

More connected

Today I learned how to change my background design to something other that the standard Twitter background (thanks Sunshine). Who knew that there would be soooo many apps to do just that. After doing that I managed to link my blog to Twitter and vice versa. Not complicated at all, in fact way to easy. It's an easy add in on the settings page on Twitter. Again, who knew? I guess it all comes back around to what I teach my class every week. The answers you're looking for are typically way more simple than you expect. This is good news for those just getting into the social networking game.

Burger time

Got the first taste of Fat Burger yesterday in Beverly, at the 95th and Western restaurant. I must say that it quite tasty. I went with the "large" burger which is an 8 oz. patty. The burger itself was quite thick and juicy. And the bun was fresh and substantial. They offered a full complement of condiments - mayo, lettuce, tomato, relish, pickles and onions. For a little extra you can get cheese, bacon and even a fried egg. They have a choice of skinny or fat fries. Went with the skinny and they were quite nice. While I liked the burger I don't think it is one of the top ones in the city. Also, the staff shout out your order to the line cooks which make the restaurant even louder than it already is. That said, the ambiance is fun and lively, and most importantly really clean. The staff working the dining room were friendly and helpful.

The only down side for this location is that Top-Notch Beefburger is right across the street. Why is that a problem? Top-Notch just can't be beat for a great South-side institution. Hand made all beef patties on toasted sesame seed buns, way too yummy. And their hand cut fries are outstanding. They are closed on Sunday, hence our trip to Fat Burger.

When all is said and done, I still say go to Fat Burger and try it out. It's a great second choice in the Beverly neighborhood.

Cheeseburger Show on CLTV

i saw this in the Tribune today. Who doesn't love cheeseburgers, come on! Check out the video and CLTV for when the show runs.

http://cltv.trb.com/video/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=3599220

Cellar Night At The Met Club

Australian Wines Rock!
What a wonderful evening at the Met Club last night. Dan Killey from the Grateful Palate was in for Cellar Night to share some of their delicious Australian wines.

Great wines and I loved their attention to detail on the labeling process. Clearly they value the artistic value of the labels bringing in up-and-coming artists as well as veteran artists to add a distinctive look to all their wines. Very innovative and well designed.

We sampled 6 wines:

R Wines, Roogle 2008 Riesling *** very light and dry, not too sweet, lovely

R Wines, Darby and Joan 2008 Chardonnay * not a fan of Chard's in general, other folks seemed to enjoy this one

R Wines, Permutations 2007 Pinot Noir *** good solid Pinot

Trevor Jones, Boots 2007 Grenache **** very nice

R Wines, First Class 2006 Shiraz ***** really enjoyed this one

Trevor Jone, Dry Grown, 2004 Shiraz **** French Oak

Chef Sean once again did a great job on the food pairings. We have a lovely duck with froie gras sauce and crispy taters. Just lovely with the Pinot Noir we tasted. Also enjoyed the salmon in plum sauce which was amazingly just perfect with the First Class Shiraz.

Dan did a great job explaining the history of Australian wines and Grateful Palate. They have a terrific wine selection all very moderately priced. We ordered some First Class Shiraz and the Reisling. Bonus prize - if you're into bacon (who doesn't like bacon), you should check out their bacon of the month club sounds fun.

Thanks to Marcus and Dan, we learned alot and really enjoyed the wine!!

Just Another Rainy Mondy

OK, so I stopped blogging again. I'm back and I'm focusing on what's been taking up my time lately.
I've gotten into social networking. No not just like Facebook is a fun way to stay current with friends and family. More like social networking is a new medium I love to explore.

So I've been twittering, and socialbrowse "ing" and basically sharing information that I find interesting. I mostly post bits on social networking, advertising that's interesting, and any news topic that's top of mind to me at any given time.

I find that you could literally do this all day and night, with a constant stream of information, thoughts and ideas. I don't but you could. I think this is the faster way to learn anything about anything, even faster than Google. And with other folks commentaries you get added dimension of personal opinions, which is great.

So long story short I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate this blog into Twitter and all the rest. So the blog typically gets ignored. I'll pass along how I manage to do this - so others can benefit as well.

I guess the ultimate goal for all of this is to perpetuate what I always thought was the most important part of working, sharing information to as many people as possible.

Stay tuned.