Regina Walton

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Profile

Regina Walton
Social Media Strategist and Community Manager, I help small businesses improve their online reputations
Online Media | San Francisco Bay Area, US

Summary

After trying my hand at writing and communications when I lived abroad in South Korea, I discovered that I absolutely love it. I love blogging, tech and social media. That's why I continue to do it professionally. I moved to NYC after returning to the States, and in August 2009 I started freelancing helping businesses with their web presence and social media.

I realized there was a need for it when I returned to the States after returning home. South Korea had fast and inexpensive Internet connections. I started a blog in 2006 and had to market it. I did so very successfully. My blog led to work writing a newspaper column which covered fashion, celebrities and notable people visiting Seoul. I also started freelance writing.

I've mastered the intricacies of social media but I'm also smart enough to know that no one is a social media guru. There are some masters for sure. To be good you have to keep up with the trends but also know what works and what doesn't.

My goals are to work with clients that realize the value of social media and web technology, but for whatever reason they're unable to do it in-house. I'm also open to work with companies or agencies that would be a good fit with my experience.

Specialties:
-Social Media Strategy and Implementation
-Web 2.0 & Multiple Content Area Expert
-Organized & Detail-oriented
-Excellent Writing Skills
-Motivated Teacher & Presenter
-Personal & Group Instruction
-Deadline Driven
-Determined Researcher
-Perceptive Interviewer

Education

  • 2005 - 2006
    Ewha Womans University
  • 1994 - 1999
    University of California, Hastings College of the Law
  • 1986 - 1991
    University of California, Los Angeles

Additional Information

Websites:
View my writing here, My social media insights, The blog that started it all
My LinkedIn
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Latest checkin

  • @Sunset Super (2801 Vicente St)
    2 days ago in San Francisco, CA

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Posts

May 20, 12:38 PM

Good job.

marissamayr:

I’m delighted to announce that we’ve reached an agreement to acquire Tumblr! 

We promise not to screw it up.  Tumblr is incredibly special and has a great thing going.  We will operate Tumblr independently.  David Karp will remain CEO.  The product roadmap, their team, their wit and irreverence will all remain the same as will their mission to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve.  Yahoo! will help Tumblr get even better, faster.

Tumblr has built an amazing place to follow the world’s creators. From art to architecture, fashion to food, Tumblr hosts 105 million different blogs.  With more than 300 million monthly unique visitors and 120,000 signups every day, Tumblr is one of thefastest-growing media networks in the world.  Tumblr sees 900 posts per second (!) and 24 billion minutes spent onsite each month.  On mobile, more than half of Tumblr’s users are using the mobile app, and those users do an average of 7 sessions per day.  Tumblr’s tremendous popularity and engagement among creators, curators and audiences of all ages brings a significant new community of users to the Yahoo! network.  The combination of Tumblr+Yahoo! could grow Yahoo!’s audience by 50% to more than a billion monthly visitors, and could grow traffic by approximately 20%.

In terms of working together, Tumblr can deploy Yahoo!’s personalization technology and search infrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers, and content they’ll love.  In turn, Tumblr brings 50 billion blog posts (and 75 million more arriving each day) to Yahoo!’s media network and search experiences.  The two companies will also work together to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance user experience.

As I’ve said before, companies are all about people.  Getting to know the Tumblr team has been really amazing.  I’ve long held the view that in all things art and design, you can feel the spirit and demeanor of those who create them.  That’s why it was no surprise to me that David Karp is one of the nicest, most empathetic people I’ve ever met.  He’s also one of the most perceptive, capable entrepreneurs I’ve worked with.  His respect for Tumblr’s community of creators is awesome, and I’m absolutely delighted to have him and his entire team join Yahoo!.   

Both Tumblr and Yahoo! share a vision to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas by focusing on users, design — and building experiences that delight and inspire the world every day.

http://yahoo.tumblr.com/

February 18, 10:20 AM

yasboogie:

7-Year-Old Zora Ball Is the World’s Youngest Game Programmer

The youngest person to create a full version of a mobile application video game. A first grader at Philadelphia’s Harambee Institute of Science and Technology Charter School, she’s already more accomplished than everyone you know.

Ball built the app in the Bootstrap programming language, and unveiled her game at FATE’s “Bootstrap Expo” at the University of Pennsylvania.

Apparently some grumpy olds were suspicious that her older brother was really the mastermind behind the program, but Zora showed them. When asked to reconfigure the app on the spot, Ball showed naysayers what was up when she executed the request perfectly.

“We expect great things from Zora, as her older brother, Trace Ball, is a past STEM Scholar of the Year,” said Harambee Science Teacher Tariq Al-Nasir. No pressure, baby geniuses, but there’s an entire world for you to save. Please hurry.

[ht @Jezebel via @PhillyTrib]

December 04, 05:54 PM
The cheese stands alone...

catalogliving:

The mice summoned all their will power to remain professional despite this being the most challenging catering event of their careers.

November 10, 07:41 AM
WIL WHEATON dot TUMBLR: The People's Bailout

Read about it and share…

howtosharpenpencils:

This is a long post but it’s about something pretty interesting so I hope you’ll indulge …

Like many folks, Occupy Wall Street has been some doing good work in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, helping people on the ground.

Now OWS is launching the ROLLING JUBILEE, a…

November 08, 05:34 PM

Perfect!

mattwilstein:

Jon Stewart comes up with a new slogan for Fox News (with some help from Karl Rove).

Follow me on Twitter | Tumblr

November 07, 08:57 PM

Oh, yes!

thecoolnews:

Historic Front Pages From Obama’s Re-election

November 06, 04:00 AM
FindYourFuckingPollingPlace.com

I think the URL title says it all.  Go and vote tomorrow!

October 31, 04:29 PM

“Shame is beneath me.”

I love it!

cat-shaming:

…I actually thought I had that darn thing out of reach, until I found it in the middle of the floor! If I had known otherwise, I would have counted the dang pins!

October 24, 02:04 PM
Barack Obama Being Adorable with Adorable Children

This is so damn cute. I just had to share!

alexleo:

September 13, 02:57 PM

ilovecharts:

Sports Cheat Sheet

September 12, 03:33 PM
When my friend asks how my first date with a new guy was

myfriendsaremarried:

September 12, 03:24 PM
When my friend tells me I'll find love when I stop looking for it

myfriendsaremarried:

August 14, 06:19 AM
makelovenotporn.tv: Hello world!

makelovenotporntv:

We’ve arrived - at last! - at the _bare_bones_beta_ of https://www.makelovenotporn.tv/ (Lots more features and different spins on content to come! Literally. Heh heh.)

It’s been very, very difficult just getting to here. This is the startup the world didn’t want you to have. Because –…

July 05, 01:02 PM

Heh, cuuuuuuuute: the hugs bison. #HiggsBoson

June 07, 10:23 PM
A tip for moder adulterers...

ohno-polio:

Tip for modern adulterers: If you’re planning to cheat on your wife of 10 years by awkwardly hitting on the model seated next to you on your flight out of Los Angeles, make sure she isn’t live-tweeting the entire miserable experience to her 13,000 followers;

May 26, 09:24 PM

other-wordly:

pronunciation | \ ‘nUn-chE \

May 05, 05:06 PM

Love it.

thecoolnews:

Monopoly: The Godfather Collector’s Edition

Like Monopoly but bored of the straight-laced content? Ever wanted to whack someone but didn’t want to go to jail? Then Godfather Monopoly is for you. I’m Italian and I’m not offended by this. In fact, this is really awesome. I’m a big fan of the mini cannoli game piece. I mean, it’s a mini cannoli!

You can buy this amazing game for $40 here.

Make your opponent an offer for their property that they can’t refuse! Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the original Godfather movie! Enter the world of The Godfather Collector’s Edition of Monopoly, where you “keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” Buy, sell and trade your way through the most memorable locations from The Godfather movie trilogy. Buy a stake in Moe Green’s Casino or take over the Corleone Lake Tahoe Estate as you work your way to the top in the “family business.” And as you wheel and deal around the board, from the Woltz Mansion to the legitimate Genco Import Company, remember to “make them an offer they can’t refuse.” For ages 8 and up. Game is playable with 2 to 6 players. There are 6 collectible tokens include Horse’s Head, Dead Fish, Tommy Gun, Cannoli, Genco Olive Oil, and The Don’s Limo. Ages 8 and up.

April 04, 02:25 PM
Instagram: Instagram for Android -- Available Now.

Finally.

instagram:

Today, we’re excited to bring you Instagram for AndroidTM. We’ve already seen more than 30 million people join Instagram to create and share beautiful photos on their iOS devices, and now we’re thrilled to offer a way for Android users to join their iOS friends on Instagram to share…

March 26, 10:30 PM

sfnetsquared:

Deep and, sadly, quite true.

beingblog:

The Damage of Apartheid on Desmond Tutu’s Psyche

by Trent Gilliss, senior editor

During our interview a few months before he retired in 2010, the Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu shared this heart-wrenching story of flying on a plane out of Lagos, Nigeria. As he boarded the plane, he was beaming with pride, he says, when he saw two black pilots shepherding the plane. While in the air, the plane experienced some bitter turbulence, and at that moment he admits:

“The first thought that came to my mind was ‘Hey, there’s no white men in that cockpit. Are those blacks going to be able to make it?’

Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu is a pivotal figure in helping galvanize South Africa’s improbable and peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy in the 1990s. And he’s been an active participant ever since in the country’s developing story ever since. Despite all the discussions and Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, he helps us realize that the amount of damage done to black South Africans’ psyches is deep-seated. A sober reminder that history is present in incalculable ways.

March 26, 10:28 PM

hungergamestweets:

This one had me laughing for a while. Special thanks to arulein for referring this tweet to me.

Audio

  • sfnetsquared: Deep and, sadly, quite true. beingblog: The Damage of Apartheid on Desmond Tutu’s Psyche by Trent Gilliss, senior editor During our interview a few months before he retired in 2010, the Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu shared this heart-wrenching story of flying on a plane out of Lagos, Nigeria. As he boarded the plane, he was beaming with pride, he says, when he saw two black pilots shepherding the plane. While in the air, the plane experienced some bitter turbulence, and at that moment he admits: “The first thought that came to my mind was ‘Hey, there’s no white men in that cockpit. Are those blacks going to be able to make it?’ Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu is a pivotal figure in helping galvanize South Africa’s improbable and peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy in the 1990s. And he’s been an active participant ever since in the country’s developing story ever since. Despite all the discussions and Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, he helps us realize that the amount of damage done to black South Africans’ psyches is deep-seated. A sober reminder that history is present in incalculable ways.
    439 plays
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Posts

November 08, 08:23 PM
October Surprise - HuffPost Live

Well, this is interesting. I was on HuffPost Live again this week.

This time we were talking about politics, which if you read my blog a bit you'll know I'm pretty passionate about and, at times, quite active.

The topic was about the "October Surprise" theory. I'm not exactly sure it's just a theory because there always seems to be something that comes up right before an election. However, is it intentional spin?
There is such big money in American politics now that I have to say I think the spin is intentional.

For what it's worth though, I also hope that voters are just as cynical as I am and take surprises with a grain of salt. It would have to be a pretty significant one for me to go, "okay, I'm switching my vote". I think that's the same on both ends of the spectrum. Of course, those in the middle and those who've not decided are the ones they're trying to reach.

You can watch the video below. You can also find it here on the HuffPost Live site.


BTW, I really like the HuffPost Live segments I've seen and have been on. They've managed to get some pretty good hosts.

October 27, 08:29 PM
Diva Is Code For Bitch - HuffPost Live

Indeed my SEO is strong. (Thanks to Stuart Tracte, a dear friend, for that wonderful quote which totally applies here.)

The HuffPost Live folks found an old blog post of mine from 2006 where I commented at length on the negative stereotypes that come at you when you're a black woman: "I Got a Woman" - Black Women and Negative Stereotypes.

I, along with true blue experts, discussed the implications of the current "feud" between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minjai on the HuffPost Live site today: Diva Is Code For Bitch.

My opinion?  Yes, they're fighting for real BUT the producers knew there was tension and they intentionally let it escalate.  It's not unheard of that shows do this to get press mentions and, hopefully, increase their ratings.

The deeper implications, however, is the dehumanization of black women.  As I wrote in 2006, we're always cast in this role.  That's why there have been many times I've been justifiably mad but I've held back.  Why?  Because black women get mad at every little thing, right?  We're horrible to deal with and will pop off at the slightest provocation, right?  Well, wrong, but with that being the perception it's something you keep in mind when you are upset.  I don't let it silence me to the point that I don't stand up for myself, but the blow back I get is way more intense than what women of other races get.  (Maybe one exception would be the fiery Latina stereotype and how that impacts Latinas.) 

As I brought up during the discussion, you've got tons of examples of women of all races feuding.  Shows like Mob Wives has an all white cast as do some of the Real Housewives shows.  You don't see anyone generalizing from those shows that all white women are argumentative bitches.

Anyway, you can check out the segment below or here at the link.  Enjoy and let's hope my SEO continues to be strong for years to come.


July 05, 05:31 PM
Stating the obvious: it's demographics you fucktard
Dave Chappelle taken by Travis Jensen
I'm inspired to actually write something today! Yeah!!!

Dave Chappelle is one of my favorite comics. Like seriously, I loved his show, but also understood why enough was enough for him. I've not even folded and watched the "lost" episodes.

Imagine how thrilled I was when I got an email from The Independent on Monday saying that he'd announced two shows for Tuesday night in San Francisco!???

I was thrilled. I also knew the shows would sell out ridiculously fast, so at 2pm I was ready to go. Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd...at 2pm other fans and ticket scalpers had gobbled up a big chunk of tickets. What's good about the Ticketfly site is they don't make it too hard to try again AND they encourage you to try again because those carts might empty. That's so much better than Ticketmaster where every single time you want to try again, you also have to reenter a captcha to get through.  It's just hell.  Anyway, sure enough around 20 minutes after 2pm, my luck turned and I got a ticket. I was in!!!

I'll do a quick review: he rocks!  Okay, not enough detail? In all seriousness, his set was totally unscripted. He's a bad closer and said so himself, so it was a few extra minutes watching someone who is a comic genius just flow. For me, it was worth it because you can pay to go to a comedy show with people who are way more prepared but aren't half as good.

The only bad point of the show, which had nothing to do with Chappelle, was some brilliant drunk f$%ker who stopped when he walked past me to point out that I was black, "wow, there is a black person in the audience!" He did this as if I'd not noticed that I was one out of a crowd of people who were mostly anything but black.

I love people who point out the obvious, BTW.
For me, that's a demographic and economic divide. Most black people that I know, including working and educated blacks like myself, are not online at 2pm in the afternoon. I am by nature of what I do. Also, even if we're plugged in we're not that good about checking emails regularly. I know a lot of people who check email once or twice a day. It's still not really that cool to be an Internet geek if you're black. That's changing fast though, and I'm in VERY good company.

I check my email when the number changes. I work with a few tabs open and I can see when I get a new message. Unless I'm busy with work or, let me be honest, even if I'm busy with work, I'll stop for a moment to check the message.

Another point is if you're not a working professional you probably can't just drop $55 plus fees to head to a last minute show. Plus, once the scalpers got their hands on tickets I heard they were going for $200 plus. I really wonder how well they did considering they had just 24 hours to sell those tickets?

So to the dumb guy who pointed out my race, um, yeah and...?

It was nice to be able to do one of these and just tell him to move on.
May 28, 01:10 PM
SFNetSquared Recap: Designing a better world with IDEO.ORG
Sean Hewens from IDEO.org in action at TechSoup.
As a co-host for SFNetSquared Meetup group, I get put on official hosting duty every few months.  On May 8th, it was my turn again.

Here is a recap of the event written by our guest Sean Hewens from IDEO.org: SFNetSquared Recap: Designing a better world with IDEO.ORG.   You can read it in full at the link. I posted it on our Tumblr blog last week when I was in NYC, but didn't have time until today to link it here.

Enjoy! If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, feel free to join the SFNetSquared group if you're interested in the intersection of technology and social change. There are groups worldwide though! You can also find out more out NetSquared at their website Thanks to TechSoup for being behind the NetSquared initiative and supporting our Meetups.

Here is the link to the recap of the first SFNetSquared event I hosted with Craig Newmark.
March 15, 10:49 AM
Weird People on Facebook - have any crazy stories like this?
Just don't push me. Don't.
This is a weird social web vignette from my life. I had an odd thing happen to me yesterday. There is that op-ed to do re the Goldman Sachs 12 vet who resigned via the NY Times. I read it, and it all seems to swirl around Greg Smith finally realizing that the GS culture wasn't what he thought it was. He calls them out and walks away. Okay, I can appreciate that for what it is, that's a significant decision for him and, yeah, I don't think he'll be welcome in any Wall Street firm again...ever.

But I'm cynical about it. It's not like he's publicly given away the fortune he's made or made any announcement about it going in trust to benefit a charity or create a foundation.  He's not announced that he's moving into fundraising or other nonprofit work. It won't be a first-class, hotel suites and bottle-service lifestyle for him anymore, but at 33, he can probably live the rest of his life at a level of comfort that most only dream of. For me, it's just a current event that isn't that significant, and I surely don't see it causing an awakening of conscious on Wall Street, in the financial sector at large or Washington, D.C. anytime soon.

Well, this one woman I barely know disagreed with me and by barely, I mean barely. I met her during the scholarship application review process for my alma mater last year.  One morning we evaluated applications and the next weekend we interviewed candidates.  That's it.  That's all.  No lunch before or after.  No getting together over a cup of coffee.  Nothing.  At best, she is an acquaintance.  Since I have nice but essentially superficial bonds online with other fellow alums I've met doing this, I figured this one would be the same.  We'd exchange comments here and there but all would be fine. 

I guess she worked on Wall Street for a couple of years, so she felt entitled to keep coming at me yesterday on Facebook after I posted a couple of articles that reacted to this banker's op-ed resignation.

In her reply to the first article from The Daily Beast, I could tell she disagreed. Okay, but it's my page and my opinion. Move along if you don't agree or have your say and then move along.  Either way, have you say but keep it civil. I found another article that complied parodies of his resignation. I guess, for her, it was on. For me, it was like, "huh?"

About four replies in, I said something like "lets just agree to disagree".  Most people then just leave it, but nope. She kept coming at me and a few replies later she does the "how would you solve this problem?" move. My reply was essentially to call her out for the false choice tactic.  You can't win, so instead you ask the person you're disagreeing with to find a solution for world peace or something else crazy. That's also called a bait and switch. Give me a break, we disagree and now you're trying to corner me with a question so complex that I'm doomed to fail? I disagree with you so now I have the burden of solving the moral crisis on Wall Street? GTFOHWTBS. I also said she was being "insanely aggressive" and ended my reply by saying this was the end of the conversation.

Like seriously. I had my reasons beyond it simply being a useless debate. While this was going on, even though it was late in the evening, I was working. The discussion was not only going nowhere, it was also distracting. Her keeping it going was just irritating.  Any new replies from her after that I just deleted and added again: "END OF DISCUSSION".

"END OF DISCUSSION" in bold I think, is pretty clear. She then tried to flip it by implying that me cutting her off was insanely aggressive. Nope. It was done and I was sick of her coming back with the same opinion over and over. I didn't take that bait either. Again, I just deleted any further attempts to keep the discussion going.  She then moved it to my wall by asking me would my opinion change if I knew the guy personally? The answer? No.  I'd probably ask him to come with me on a trip to NOLA or something because, clearly, he's got both the time and the money, but nope.  However, again, I side-stepped the debate and just deleted the question.

I then finished my work and went to sleep.  I did consider doing the unfriending move, but I figured she'd come to her senses or sober up, and would realize fighting with a virtual stranger over Facebook maybe isn't the most productive use of anyone's time.  I woke to see that she'd not sobered up and instead had done me a favor and unfriended me.  Thank God for small favors!

It was just...weird. It was like she was on this mission to just make me stay engaged in this debate until I changed my mind. For me, it's a minor issue. It's a bit of news that's interesting. It's cocktail chatter. I'll bring it up over the weekend when I'm out with people and that's about it. For her, clearly, it is more. I was just odd having someone I barely know nipping at me.

Me calling her out as "insanely aggressive" seemed to put her over. But who does that? I see things that people post on their walls that I don't agree with.  If I feel strongly enough, I'll say something and usually that's it.   I also realize that my opinion isn't the only valid opinion out there, but, most important, debates on Facebook are just a waste of time. 

Say what you have to say and then keep it moving. This isn't debate club and it certainly isn't moot court. I guess it just shocked her that I was like "okay, enough" and I was serious because I deleted anything else she had to say. I'd had enough. Have a child if you want to harangue someone, but leave me out of it.

It struck me as a weird intersection of female entitlement with and certainly a fair level of disrespect and condescension on her part, and just not knowing when to shut up or, at least, let the other person walk away.

Another odd story from the very weird social web.
May 28, 01:10 PM
SFNetSquared Recap: Craig Newmark Talks About Technology for the Common Good
I just wanted to share a link to the post I just did for SFNetSquared.

I'm a new co-organizer of this Meetup.com group.  The event I planned with Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist and craigconnects, happened this past Tuesday.

Here is an informal recap of the event: SFNetSquared Recap: Craig Newmark Talks About Technology for the Common Good.

Enjoy and feel free to join the SFNetSquared group if you're interested in the intersection of technology and social change.


October 31, 03:58 AM
Road trip fever
A pic I took driving out of the California Redwoods
I'm actually writing an essay about Korea more than two years after the fact.  I'll post more about that later.

However, right now, I want to write a quick update.

I've got road trip fever now.  Last month I moved back from NYC to the SF Bay area.  I did that via a cross-country drive.  I got lucky and was loaned a minivan from a couple that was doing the move a few days after me.  After spending a month in East Hampton with friends, I packed it up and on Labor Day, I headed west.

It was a great trip.  I stopped in Cleveland, Ohio for a couple of days.  I visited the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame.  I then drove to Chicago and spent three days with some friends I'd not seen since my university days at UCLA.  En route, I also stopped at Notre Dame because how many times have I ever been to South Bend, Indiana?  From the Chicago area I moved west as quickly as I could.  I spent one evening in the Lake Tahoe area at another friend's and then drove from there back to the SF Bay area on September 14th!

However, the road trip bug is back. I did a few road trips with friends around California and Arizona after I graduated from college. However, times changed and that ended.

What inspired me to hit the road? Well, I went to Fleet Week in San Francisco to see the Blue Angels. I always went to see them fly when I lived in San Francisco. I went out on Sunday. The fog rolled in over the Golden Gate and they had to cancel. The announcer said that they were scheduled to fly that next weekend in the Central Valley at Lemoore NAS, and I decided why not? Initially, I wanted to drive an RV across the country but between the rental fees, mileage charges, one-way penalty, and gas, it was just too expensive to do. However, a weekend round trip? That I could do, and I did.

I drove from to Fresno and had my first experience in an RV park. It wasn't bad. I then drove to the base. Lucky me and the other RV types got special parking. It was so good that I didn't need to unlock the bike or walk to where the main entrance was. Instead, I moved the RV back to give myself a bit of shade, pulled out the lawn chair and watched the Blue Angels soar. From there, I skipped a meet the Blue Angels event because I'd made a reservation to tour the Hearst Castle the next day at 11am. I drove to San Simeon and camped near there. That wasn't as fun as it was a primitive camp and I had no idea what that meant until I got there. (If you expect it, no problem. If you don't, well, yeah.) The Hearst Castle was amazing. I'm so glad I went. From San Simeon, I drove up Highway 1 to Monterey and camped there for the evening. I'll NEVER drive on Highway 1 again with an RV. I had a very small one but I already don't like driving winding mountain roads in a car.

This week I'm driving an RV to Tacoma. It's a cheap one-way deal. It's great because I'm literally spending a week and a half on the road. This really is a crash course in RVing. The gas is killing me, but gas isn't cheap.  The scenery is absolutely beautiful.  I do regret that I ended up driving through part of the Redwoods at night, so I'll have to do that again.  The goal was to get myself up to a campsite before night.  What I should have done now that I'm in Oregon with way too much time on my hands was simply not been so keen on getting to that site.  I could have explored from there but, yeah, I ended up being just pooped from the intense drive and got bogged down with work.  Oregon's landscape is beautiful though.  I went up to Silver Falls and ended up driving through what seemed to be the Christmas tree capitol of the world!

Now I'm getting a crash course in boondocking (just Google it as there are so many links on what it is). It's exciting and a bit scary too.  There definitely are different types of RV campers. I'll take Amtrak back because it's easier to travel via Amtrak with my bike than by plane.

The trip is still in medias res, so more later.
September 11, 08:40 AM
September 11th: 10 Years Ago

powered by Fotopedia

Here I am in Omaha, Nebraska unable to get back to sleep. I just read a really good 9/11 blog post by Patti Digh, "remember". She writes well about what it was like for her that day. She also talks about how polarized and hateful things are in the US right now. However, she brings it home to what matters: living your life now to the fullest.

I'll admit that I've been avoiding watching TV and the coverage on the 9/11 anniversary.

I wasn't in the USA when the attacks happened. I had just moved to a university near Daegu, South Korea for a new job as a visiting professor. I had my little Daewoo Tico, and I was driving around that evening while listening to military radio. I can't recall which US morning radio show it was, but it was fun to drive around a new place in a foreign country while listening to an American radio show.

Then they broke into their broadcast and said a plane had hit one of the World Trade towers in NYC. I was hoping it was some horrible accident, but the World Trade had been attacked before. Then a second plane hit the other tower. Like everyone following what was going on, I knew my country was under attack. I turned my car around and headed back to my apartment. At some point, I heard that the Pentagon had also been attacked and that there was another plane that went down somewhere in Pennsylvania.

I'd just moved, so I didn't have a TV. Good for me that South Korea is a well-wired country. I simply walked across the road to a PC-bang (Internet cafe), logged in and kept up with the news. Also, that Internet cafe also had a big screen TV and switched news covering what was happening. I was at this cafe when the towers collapsed. I stayed there until dawn just keeping up with the news. It really was just overwhelming, and I felt helpless. So many lives were lost. I cancelled my classes for that day.

Last week, on Labor Day I left the wonder that is NYC to move back to the SF Bay Area. I miss NYC already, but I know that I need to live somewhere that I not only love but where there are people that I love and have deep connections to.

Today, I'll be doing exactly what I did when I heard about the attacks: driving. It's a propos.

I still hurt and probably will always hurt for those who lost their lives in those attacks. I also hurt for the family and friends they left behind. Peace be with you all.
June 24, 08:48 PM
Social Media 101 - A class for beginners (don't be a Weiner)
Next week I'm teaching a class called "Social Media 101 - A class for beginners (don't be a Weiner)."

(Yes, it's a silly title.  I was feeling playful when I was planning the class. Also, I realized I could do it now or not do it at all as the joke would be passé by the time I taught the class and, ta da, I was right.)

The class will be on June 29th from 7pm to 8:30pm at Hive @ 55 in Manhattan.

It's a class that is specifically for people who are new to the social web or who have a little experience but want to learn more.  Here is the class description:
This course will cover the basics of the social web. You'll learn about the big 4 social media sites: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. You'll learn the best ways to navigate these sites. You'll also learn what to watch out for regarding security and privacy.

The goal is for everyone to leave the class with a Twitter account. You'll follow a few people and send your first tweet. If we have time, we'll also send retweets and a direct message; even if you don't send them all during this class, you'll leave knowing what those terms mean. The price includes handouts.

This class is for people who simply haven't taken the plunge and want to know the basics of the social media landscape before diving in. What's required? Please bring a laptop or tablet (iPad or Android tablet) and be ready to learn. This class is a beginner level course. If you're already doing your thing on the big 4 social media sites (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube), this is going to be boring to you.
The plan is I'll talk for about 30 to 40 minutes but the rest of the we'll work on getting you a real Twitter account, so you can jump in.  Honestly, even though the concept is basic, I find that people learn best when they're in it.

I'm really excited because I do miss teaching. I've had a chance to do a handful of presentations on the social web and have gotten great feedback.

If you're in the NYC area and would like to take it, you can sign up here: http://skl.sh/mJPpmE

Also, if you know someone in the NYC area who you think would be interested, I would love it if you shared it with them.

Thanks and have a great weekend!
June 20, 09:15 AM
Social Media is NOT Magic

I might as well start cross posting. :)  I fired up a blog on what I do on Word Press over a year ago.  However, what I realized fast was it was more important to hustle and network to get clients than anything else.  I've fired it back up and here a post that I added yesterday.  I've turned comments off here, but you're welcome to leave me a note there.


Photo courtesy of Hryck on Flickr
I've just found a lot of people who seem to think that social media is some mysterious and magical thing. That sentiment has inspired me to fire this blog back up.
As someone who works in this very fun field, I get that a lot. I get this will current clients. I get this with possible clients. I also just see it a lot in passing.
The social web is not magic. It's something that humans have done forever: communicate. I just HATE seeing requests like this:
I am seeking someone who is an expert at this who can take my (whatever it is but redacted because this is a quote) and work your magic.
Look. It's NOT magic, and, honestly, as much as I love the thought-leaders in this space, we're all learning as we go. I'm not going to call any of them experts. This is all new and even the people who have expertise are learning and adapting to new tools and resources that are constantly being launched.
It takes knowledge of the tools. It takes knowing how to use them. It takes strategy. It takes trying, measuring, and adjusting, as needed. It takes reading case studies. It takes reading on what people are doing. I'll also admit it takes sharing what you're doing (and, yes, I've been neglecting that; building a business is HARD.)

However, most important is that a successful social media strategy takes also having GREAT products and/or GREAT content that helps people solve their problems or engages people on an emotional level.
(*Also, before someone wanders in to say people are just using "magic" and similar terms as a figure of speech or play on words and they understand that it takes knowledge and strategy, I'll agree that maybe that's the case, for some. However, a lot of people do seem to then there is some mysterious alchemy going on, and that's not true.)
December 04, 08:49 AM
Comedy of Errors: Insulin pump failure (x2) and UPS failure
At least she's got a working doorbell.
This has been a crazy week for me. It started off very exciting as I took on a new client. However, on Monday, I got out of the shower and my lovely insulin pump started vibrating. I knew it was the pump's alarm telling me it was time to check my blood sugar. I went on with drying myself off and then I was going to do it. When I looked and there was an error in the display: BUTTON ERROR. Uh oh. Either a button broke or when the pump was vibrating a button was pressing on something. (The pump is not on me when I shower.)

I clear that error, check my blood sugar and get ready to have lunch. I start the sequence to tell the pump how many carbs I plan to eat. Then, uh oh, the numbers keep scrolling and I can't stop them!!! Problem! I take out the batteries hoping a reset can fix it. Nope. Then I call Medtronic. The rep I got was friendly and talked me through what was happening. Her answer was something I didn't want to hear. My pump was broken and needed to be replaced. Okay, bummer, but I have a vial of Lantus (long-acting insulin) just in case of a pump emergency.  One day of that will be fine.  Plus, I don't have a choice.

She takes my info. I tell her that the doorbell in my building isn't working right now. My landlord has to get it fixed and he's off somewhere on a trip. Therefore, they've got to make sure the delivery company calls me when they're at the door. She says I'll get a phone call the next morning when the truck is en route. As promised, I got a call around 8:45am the next morning. It wasn't a person though (and she'd not promised it would be.) It was a message basically telling me the same thing you hear when you set an appointment for a home repair or cable installation. However, the window for this delivery was between 9am and 5pm. That's ridiculous, but no worries. I had nothing on my schedule for Tuesday.

I called UPS and explained the situation. I was told there was no way he could call as UPS doesn't provide their drivers with phones. Okay, I'd heard that before. I stressed this was a medical device and that I'd be home all day, so how could I get someone to let me know he was there or en route? She suggested I leave a note. Okay. However, the street I live on is like a wind tunnel, so I opted for a bright green box that I had sitting around. Here is a shot of that box that I put outside.

The note I left for my UPS driver which was, clearly, ignored.

One pic I didn't upload because it has my phone number on it. However, I think that says how important it is if I'm writing my number on a box and leaving it outside. I mean anyone, in theory, can come by and pick it up. That's why I asked the driver to read the part the arrows pointed to.

It ends up the driver showed up around 9:45am or so when I checked the tracking info online.  I was concerned. Did someone take the box and am I about to get a crap-load of crank calls? Nope. The box was there AND the driver had put the delivery attempt notice ON the box. I was losing it on the phone when I saw that or I would have taken a picture of it. You'll have to trust me on what I saw because I flew through the roof. I have TWO stores next to me. I think the one on one side doesn't open until 10am or so, but there is a general store on the other side that is open in the mornings. He could have gone there as asked them to call me. The message was CLEAR. I was at home, and I was waiting for my medical device.

I flip out. However, I realize that, thank GOD, I'll be at a conference the next day. I also tried as hard as I could to get redelivery attempt on Tuesday. I contacted UPS customer service, again.  I explain the situation.  The UPS rep puts my message through to the UPS hub. The hub calls me. They then contact the driver who said there was no way he'd be able to double back. Um, okay. So the UPS hub can contact him about this package but they were just UNABLE to find a way to let me know the driver is downstairs? I'm calling b.s. I mean had they even said "he'll be there from 9am to 9:30". It would have sucked, but I would have gone downstairs with my computer or iPad, sat on the step and worked from there. That UPS driver, from what I can see, made NO EXTRA EFFORT.  When you're providing a service, like it or not, sometimes you HAVE to put in some extra effort.  Well, correction, when you're providing a service and don't deliver packages for UPS you have to put in some extra effort from time to time.

I was livid and I started ranting on Twitter about it. Someone manning the @UPS Twitter feed saw it and replied. Great!  They ask me to email with the details. Great! There is someone there who is going to help me!

I do this and I get a reply hours later with info I already know: 1) the driver showed up (I won't say the driver tried to make a delivery because that's b.s.), and the package had be rerouted. Um, duh! I was the person on the phone for over 30 minutes to Medtronic! I KNOW IT'S BEING REROUTED.

I'm pissed. So I start updating Twitter with my blood glucose readings and with a sarcastic "thanks" to @UPS. Most of my readings were high that day and were high the next morning. The package did make it to the conference like I knew it would. However, when I got it, I noticed this sticker on the box:

How is this NOT clear?

Are.you.kidding.me?!!!  This sticker is CLEAR this is important.  Factor in the box I left outside and you'd think the driver might have bothered to make an extra effort. Well, you'd think that.

This part isn't UPS' fault. The pump I got was defective. Oh, it's another FAIL.

I'd left the conference and gone home to set it up. Ooops. On that one I got the 'Motor Error' alert.  Even though I cleared it, it would just loop back to that error.  ...sigh...

I call Medtronic. This time I get a promise that they're going to send me a new "new" pump this time.  The one I'd received was a refurbished one.  

A good two and a half hours lost of conference time. But, honestly, I was so distracted the first day of the conference that I really didn't get into it and wasn't too receptive when someone told me to 'cheer up'.

I did get the new pump yesterday, as promised.  It was brand new.  I set it up with a very helpful Medtronic customer service rep.  It seems to be working just fine now.  I thank Medtronic for that.  I mean I can even understand them sending me a refurb.  That's standard for big companies and they save money that way.

I do realize that ultimate responsibility falls on my landlord to repair the damn doorbell.  After this mess?  I'm confident that will get done.  However, this can't be unheard of.

The lack of effort by the UPS driver and the bureaucratic "that's how it is, but we're sorry" tone from UPS service reps just put me in a sour mood for a couple of days.  Saying "sorry" when it's an issue of someone's health and well-being simply doesn't cut it. I'll definitely give UPS credit in being responsive, but if the people you talk to can't do anything about it, well, that's just a frustrating sort of therapy.  You're mad, they take it, they say "sorry" and you're still out of luck.

Oh, I found this pic that starts off this post and the one below on Flickr today.  Clearly, I'm not the only one this has happened to.  In all seriousness, I do hope that UPS understands that this is a hole in their service.  Sometimes buzzers and doorbells break.  Have a way to work around it! This is particularly true when you're taking responsibility for delivering medical equipment.

Photo courtesy of adamjackson 1984 on Flickr.com

What's funny? I put in an order at Drugstore.com a day or so ago.  I checked the tracking this morning and, dammit, the package has been sent via UPS.  It's not as stressful, by far, but I know I'm going to have to go through the same series of b.s. bureaucracy AND pay a fee to have it rerouted to a UPS store.  I'm halfway tempted to just ask them to return it because I didn't pay for shipping on this. I wonder if I could have Drugstore.com ship it to me via another vendor like FedEx? (I had a similar delivery issue with them, but they just rerouted the package, for free and with no bureaucratic static, to the FedEx office nearest me.)

Oh, I just got a call from someone at UPS (name: Patti/Patty?)  Anyway, I tell her the story and like everyone at UPS that's been in contact with me, she says there is nothing else they could do. I stress that I'm not the only one as the pictures above indicate.  If they're going to take responsibility for delivering medical equipment they need to fix this hole in their system.

Her reply? Pretty much that's how it is and she'll forward this on.

Okay: publish post.

----------

 The same post at TuDiabetes.org (a great site for diabetics for community and advice).
April 27, 10:26 AM

Now will y'all just STFU? Thanks: RT @johnhaydon: Obama Birth Certificate Released By White House (PHOTO) http://ow.ly/4I2mn

March 31, 08:24 PM

Sedated = Excellent :)

December 31, 05:35 PM
Happy New Year!

image by freeimageslive.co.uk - creator

This has been an amazing year for me.

I feel blessed.

I woke up late today after a very late night out. They'd already rung in the New Year in Asia. I had messages wishing me a Happy New Year. I really did feel very loved and blessed to have such thoughtful friends.

It's been hectic:

I had a ridiculous number of moves. I now know that's par for the course in the NYC area for many. I dread thinking about it, but I foresee, at least, one more move next year. That's why I've not really unpacked yet. :-/

It's been overwhelming:

I thought I'd be able to keep up my writing. I just haven't been able to between these moves and networking. I've got a few interviews from weeks past I need to write up and submit.  I also have a couple I need to rethink conceptually.

Networking is essential if you're working for yourself. If you factor in that I moved here not knowing a soul and having no family and less than a handful of friends here, well, I've had to hustle.  Also, networking is necessary for your sanity and social life if you're in a new place. 

I've had moments that have challenged my patience too. I've had to adjust to an urban culture that is very different, for better or for worse, than what I'm used to. I'm still trying to figure it out, but I'm getting there. 

It's been rewarding:

Working as a freelance social media manager and strategist and getting real results for my clients has been just INCREDIBLE.

I'll admit that sometimes there is that itch of uncertainty because this is a fairly new industry. There are a lot of people claiming to be a "guru" or an "expert".  My approach is to do the work and do it well.  I've created results for myself.  I'm now creating results for my clients. 

I'm in the most competitive pool in the USA, so having happy clients that recognize that I'm doing a great job makes me smile. Being able to have a viable freelance business with just over a year of work with no transition from the support blanket of full-time work or the name recognition of a company behind me, well, I'm proud that I'm doing it. 

It's just been great in so many ways:

I've met some great people. I've had some great moments.  I've also lost some important people due to growing apart or moving on, but, you know what?  That's okay. You learn from it all. 

It's forced me to be very introspective and to see what needs fixing:

I fancy myself as someone who is already quite introspective.  I've had a fair amount of loss and losing my parents early and in rapid succession made me tough.  My mom had already taught me to be resourceful. It's just that with them gone, I have to use it. When I moved abroad to South Korea I longed to see a bit of the world and learn. I did that in ways I never predicted. 

A weird effect of that, however, is even being a city like NYC now means I'm impressed with what I see here, but I'm not THAT impressed.  Why? Because I just know there is more out there.  I chuckle when I hear or see people here say "only in New York". We're more common than not.  NYC is a vibrant and special place, but, for me, that's not because it's necessarily the best place. It is, however, a city that attracts the best talent and the best creativity.  When you look at modern history and the lives of individuals who've made an impact a large number of them have spent, at least, some time in New York, NY.  That makes me feel like the odd person out because I hear that "only in New York" stuff so often that I do feel like the odd person out. It's great, but come on...

Resuloution time? Yes and no. I don't "do" resolutions. I do life changes or I don't bother:

I've got some chronic personality quirks - I tend to run late and that's bad.  It's also funny because I know it's a reaction to my mom ALWAYS being insanely early.  It was just so frustrating to get someplace and sit, sit, sit.  I hated it.  In L.A., San Francisco and South Korea, it was always something that was never ~that~ bad.  However, in NYC when things fail?  OMG, they fail in a big way.  Note to self: factor in a good 30 minutes lead time over how long you ~think~ it will take you to get there.  That seems to be working for me. 

Also, my diabetes factors into this. I've had times where my blood sugar goes dangerously low, hypoglycemia. I also have a side effect of diabetes called hypoglycemic unawareness. If my sugar crashes I'm just out of it. This can happen at anytime and I'm taking steps to reverse it and make sure it stops.

Wish me luck!

Feeling like the odd person out comes up again here. A side effect of having lost the two most important people in my life in my 20s, just when my life was starting made me very closed.  I have a big personality and I'm not shy around strangers. That's my acting background (yep, acting, which I don't talk about much anymore.) I was the little girl who hid behind her mother when strangers spoke to her. She's still there. I'm still bashful in some ways. With no mother to hide behind, I just close parts of me off.

I'm not open with what I'm really feeling and really thinking.  I often feel like people don't get me.  I also sometimes intentionally shut people out or block them from getting to know me. In fact, I was out last night and felt that way almost the whole night.  People size you up on what they see.  So when people see me, I know that most are putting me into some weird and probably stereotypical category.  I speak four languages. (Granted, I only speak my native language fluently.) I've traveled a lot. I've studied a lot.  I probably know way too much about politics and have a knack for being able to find information quickly.  I was a library nerd and I'm the same on the Internet. Having quick access to information is amazing.  My music taste and interests run eclectic. I love Van Halen almost as much as I love Prince.

So, I'm going to open up more because it's not just stereotypes guiding me being misunderstood. It's me wrapping myself up tight in a protective ball.  Life is just too short.  I've led a risky life in some ways but it's time to take some deeper risks with my soul, my feelings and my emotions.  I've kept them well-hidden. I've got to take more chances and be more vulnerable.  I'll admit, I'm just terrified of feeling the loss of grief. I really do hate it, so I've shut down in some ways. However, it's part of life. I can't hide from it. Some things that happened this year showed me that.

That's it.

It's been just an awesome 2010 and I expect that 2011 will be even better.

Here is wishing you all a very happy and healthy New Year! All the best in 2011.
December 10, 08:06 AM
I Interviewed Seth Godin!

This is pretty exciting.

One of my clients got invited to the NextGenCharity Conference here in NY, NY. That invite came via Twitter, which I manage for him. Score!

Anyway, Tony creates a lot of great content targeted to small to mid-sized nonprofits.

In fact, the tagline of his show is, "Big Nonprofit Ideas for the Other 95%."

One of those resources is a weekly radio show that he started around the time I started working with him.

Yesterday, he spent most of the day interviewing the NextGen speakers. He had to go to do a speaking engagement of his own around lunchtime.

Wouldn't you know that Seth Godin would be available when Tony was gone. It was either then or never, so I revved up my interview skills and stepped in. Here is the post from Tony's blog and the video.

Enjoy.


NextGen:Charity Interview With Seth Godin

Me and Seth Godin at NextGenCharity 2010 in NYC.

Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio sat down with Seth Godin after he came off stage at today's NextGen:Charity Conference. But Tony Martignetti didn't. I had a commitment speaking (proudly) at Bernstein Global Wealth Management at the time Seth was available.

Regina Walton, principal of Organic Social Media, stepped in and talked to Seth so the opportunity was not lost.

He's a bright guy, so take a look at his advice for the nonprofit conversation.



October 19, 02:26 AM
The Mourning Season
Last year, seven days after my birthday, I woke up and Kitty, my 19 year old cat, wasn't in her usual spot. That usual spot was actually many spots, but it was almost always somewhere near me.

I went to the living room and saw her there. I let out a sigh of relief because I knew she was old. I had spent the last few years making sure she was breathing when she was asleep and had other paranoid moments. I went back to the bedroom thinking all was fine. It wasn't. I guess she'd had a stroke during the night. She couldn't walk but was able to make it to my bedroom door.

I flipped out, grabbed my computer and found the number for 24 hour emergency pet clinics. I found one, but, at that time, I was up in Harlem, so it was a bit of a trek from where I was to the center. By the time we got there, she'd died. At least, it was in her travel bag (she got calm when I put her in that.) I donated her body to research (it was a teaching hospital). They then sent her off to be cremated. A few days later I got her remains back in a tin box. I won't get into it too much. I wrote about it the day she died. I miss her.

Although, it's my favorite season, the autumn is also a sad season for me. My mother died years ago in November. Then five weeks later when winter is in full swing, I remember that my father died just weeks after my mother. (Tends to happen that way in my family a lot.)

Nothing more to say except I miss all three of them so very much. I've learned most people mean well, but I'm about to become a mountain recluse. (Most people are morons.) I'm glad I've got loving memories of them all and realize I'm lucky. I feel these loses strongly but that's only because they lived and, because of that, I was blessed with tons of love and attention.
September 20, 05:55 AM
Motorola Sucks, part 3 - Motorola Feedback Network
Okay, this is interesting. I got this email from Motorola a day or so ago.  I had a chance to read it now. 
Dear Motorola Forums member,

When you registered on the Motorola Owners’ Forums, you expressed interest in providing feedback to Motorola. Thank you!

Please click this link (removed) to take a short enrollment survey for our Motorola Feedback Network. As a member of the Motorola Feedback Network, you will be included in various studies and feedback opportunities. Registering is no guarantee that you will be asked to participate in benchmark studies or beta-test software, but we chose those people from the MFN.

If you have already received an invitation previously or signed up via a link on the Motorola Owners' Forum, please ignore this e-mail and accept my apologies for the duplication.

The survey takes only five or 10 minutes. It’s all private and none of it will ever be used to advertise or market to you. If you have any questions, please e-mail me here. (removed)

Thanks again, and we hope to be in contact with you soon.

Matt Greenberger
Consumer Experience Champion
Mobile Devices Consumer Support
Motorola
It sounds good, right?  Granted maybe Motorola will find this blog along with the great graphic I used and toss me out of the network, but this email wasn't marked as confidential. 

I'm just hoping it's a sign that they realize they REALLY need some help and want to change future posts that people write from "Motorola Sucks" to "Motorola Rules". 

Thanks for the invite, Matt. I'm in.
September 19, 06:42 PM
Please Demand Healthier Food, Thanks...

You know things are a bit tight for an entrepreneur right now. Like seriously, the local 99 cent stores are my friends right now. Moving in the metro-NYC area is never cheap even if where you're moving is cheap.

Anyway, things will turn around soon and, since I'm not looking for a place to live, I can turn my focus back to my work and seeking out a new client or two or something else to supplement my income.  I'm pretty effective when I do that, so I'm not too worried.

However, with that said, food. OMG, food in NYC is ridiculous. It's expensive and things like fruits and veggies? Gah, exorbitant compared to what I'm used to in South Korea and in my native California. I'm doing okay because in law school I had to be frugal, so I can snap back into that really easily when I need to.  Good for me that there is a farmer's market that is nearby.  I'll make sure to stop by this week to pick up a few things.

However, I'm running low on this product, Applesnax's unsweetened applesauce, and I'm just irritated because it's not like I can skip over to the local market and replace it.


Why? It has no added sugar.

Why the hell is it so hard to find products with no added sugar when obesity is a major problem and type 2 diabetes (not what I have, BTW) is nearly damn epidemic here in the USA?

I ask this seriously.  I know that Mott's has one too.  However, it's really rare that you'll find me in a mainstream supermarket and that's where you'll find Mott's products.  It's rare that small corner markets will stock sugar-free products. There just isn't any room and probably not much demand. I am someone who will ask local merchants to start stocking things and, I think, it's time to start asking for more sugar-free stuff.  I just hope more people start doing it because it's pretty insane how much easier it is to get processed high-fructose corn syrup crap than simple foods.  
September 16, 06:51 PM
It's Raining, It's Pouring...Like seriously, it was pouring.

Just a bit of weather and architectural weirdness.

I actually think this is good because if the rain slides off the roof like that, someone did that on purpose. I'm hoping for a winter season of no leaks or snow weirdness.

Basically, I heard the thunder coming in and then boom, this deluge started. No problem as I'd seen them before, but with the heavy rain, I decided to check on the open windows and saw this:



Wow. That's A LOT of water. :)

September 16, 12:28 PM
*Some* recruiters are morons...
Okay, when I first came back to the States, I completely denied any urges to freelance.  Too scary.

Honestly though?  I sort of saw myself doing this. I just wasn't sure how to do it or, honestly, what to do.  I knew the freelance writing market was being gutted due to the recession (economic slow down, my a$$, this is a recession).  Experienced writers were getting laid off and long-running magazines and papers were shutting down.  Not really the best time to come in as a newcomer only to have to compete against experienced writers.

I started looking for your typical 9 to 5.  I had almost no success.  That was jarring for me because I was always someone who could land something pretty fast. It brought home how very real this recession is if I couldn't find something.  What people told me and what I eventually noticed was all that time I'd spent online? That gave me a wealth of skills that some people are willing to pay for and to my clients and to a well-wired South Korea, THANK YOU.  Now I freelance and have been doing so for about a year.

Things are tight for sure, but it's rare that I'll apply for a job.  If I happen to scan the help wanted section and see something I think would be a good fit, I'll apply.  It's rare.  Why?  I'm convinced that most recruiters are just too conventional for their own good.  Most who talk to me are a bit baffled when they hear my background.  Honestly, I can understand it to a certain degree, but I look at it as "this is a candidate with a wealth of experience and tons of valuable transferable skills."  They, in contrast, don't get that I'm well-educated, well-traveled and haven't sold out to a law firm or something conventional like that. (God, no!)

Anyway, the inspiration behind this post are the recruiters who contact me.  I've not gone looking for them.  They're usually finding me from my LinkedIn profile.  (So it's good to see the site does have some value in that respect.)  I had a recruiter contact me last week. She requested a resume and I sent that to her. She said she'd follow-up with me.  I was going through my emails last night and remembered that I'd not heard from her, so I shot off a quick follow-up email.  Her reply?
Dense recruiter:  What kind of position are you looking for? 

Me: You contacted me, so nevermind. Good luck finding someone.

That was my measured reply which was actually code for this, "Pardon me? I wasn't looking at all. You contacted me; you fucktard!"
Honestly though...lately, I've been getting a few recruiters contacting me.  What I'm noticing is a lot don't do their homework.  If you find me via LinkedIn, maybe read the page and get a feel for my background before contacting me.  It's sort of insulting to know someone found you on a page where you've sat down and laid out your professional background, but then the person asks you to go through it. Instead, I want someone to show me they've read my info and ask me questions about it (questions being clarifying time lines or understanding my roles and experience). 

Basically, take the time to show you've read it and not just did a key word search.  It's lazy when I'm sitting there as the person who was contacted but I feel like I'm the one doing all the work.  It's lazy and I lose faith in you real fast.  Usually by the time you talk, a recruiter also has your resume.  Recruiters...read it.

I've also had recruiters who've come to me then flip the dynamic.  It suddenly feels like I've got to sell myself and, half of the time, they've not even bothered to give me specifics about the job. It's weird. I'll chalk it up to a lack of professionalism and maybe a general dislike of people or what they do.

I'd not put candidates I'd approached on the hotseat. Usually, that causes me to just end the conversation and get back to work thankful that I can work for myself.
September 15, 06:15 AM
Questions about living and working in South Korea...
I just got this request via comments:

"I was wondering if you could email me and just tell me a little about how you got started in Korea and what challenges you faced making new friends and getting established there."

No.

This entire blog, especially, the earlier ones deal with that...well, sorta. 

I'll admit I did start this blog six years after I got there. There aren't any "well, here I am in South Korea!" posts.  However, there are ones that talk about moving, living there and my experiences. Also, there are a ton of other K-blogs where people are talking about moving there and adjusting to life in South Korea.

I answer specific questions but not general questions. Also, this blog IS a broad overview and it touches on many subjects.  Any I didn't write about? I probably didn't want to make that part of my life public and, in terms of topics, there are a few glaring omissions.

Take some time to run a few searches, click around and read what's already been written.  There is also just the feeling you've not read much I've written yet.  (I just ran a couple of searches to make sure posts come up, they do.  There is a search panel on the sidebar which allows you to run searches of my blog only.  I do try to make it easy.  Also, you should probably start with the podcast I did with another K-blogger in 2006.)

After that, ask me questions.

Good luck.
September 13, 09:53 AM
Motorola Sucks, part 2 - The Factory Reset
There is only going to be a part 2, and that's great because I don't want this to drag out any longer.  If you slogged through my first rant, Motorola Sucks, part 1, you know that I was lucky and got a free Android phone from Motorola a few weeks ago. Yeah! (And, seriously, thanks...)

However, you also know that after a few weeks the phone went buggy on me.  I called Motorola customer service. They kicked me to T-mo.  T-mo kicked me back to them because it was a free phone. The problem was all of my calls rolled into voicemail (nothing on my end to give me a chance at picking up) and the home button didn't work (so no multiple app fun for me...sheesh, is this an old pre-4.0 iPhone OS?)

In one of my calls to Motorola, I was livid because it was, at least, my third or fourth call.  That rep, however, suggested something else: a factory reset (or hard reset). 

Um, okay.  I'd heard NOTHING about that being a possibility before. It does suck because it wipes everything off the phone and, while I was constantly prompted to backup my Blackberry, this Android phone doesn't seem to have that. However, resetting the phone could very well fix the problem. Plus, I was desperate as my only other option was to mail the phone in and be without a phone for the 5 to 7 days it might take. The phone goes back to its factory state but things like contacts would remain as those are synced with Google, as is anything on the SD or SIM card. Okay, desperate times call for desperate measures.

I asked the rep if the instructions were online.  She told me that they weren't.   That.seemed.odd.  However, I didn't have my laptop in front of me at the time to double check (and I would have).  I wrote the steps down and decided to try it after my move was complete and I was settled.

My plan was to bite the bullet and mail the phone off today if I had to.  However, over the weekend, I decided to go back into the Motorola user forums to search for something, anything that could help me.  I figured I couldn't be the only person with a problem like this.

Sure enough, guess what I found?  A step-by-step guide on the factory reset that I was told by a Motorola phone rep WASN'T online.

Good grief...are you f%^king kidding me?  

Granted, this is a forum, so maybe Motorola is just not keeping up with the content that's going up.  However, I found it with just a couple of targeted searches. It was posted about a month ago by someone tagged as a "MotoXprt".  I'm not sure how one becomes a MotoXprt. What's most pressing is why, after these folks have been tagged as experts, that their posts aren't tracked and archived by Motorola customer service.

Just a big old pot of "argh"! Seriously, I would have done this a few days ago had I known.

So, the phone is working again. Yeah! It's ringing and the home button takes me home. However, Motorola's customer service is horrible.  This is something that ~maybe~ should have taken one call.

The online diagnostic didn't walk me through a factory reset.  The customer service rep who suggested it said there were no guides online when actually there are. The fact remains that if something goes wrong with the phone again, I've still got to mail it in.  At least, now I know how to do a factory reset.

Glad I now have a working phone.  I'm still glad I got it for free because I'd be absolutely livid if I paid for this low level of service.

Signing off.

...and Motorola? Your customer service sucks.  It's not just the hardware that people are paying for.  It's the experience of dealing with your company.  That, unfortunately, needs to seriously be reorganized.
September 14, 02:14 PM
Motorola Sucks, part 1
Yeah, "intelligence everywhere"
except in their customer service!
Honestly, I'm so exhausted that I just need to write this out to get it off my chest.  There will be a part 2 or even part 3 (hopefully, won't be needed) because the low level of customer service happening here is just insane.



However, MOTOROLA SUCKS.

Why?  I thought that I lucked out when I got a Motorola Cliq XT Android phone for free.  I mean "wow".  My little Blackberry was still holding on and I was going to wait until early next year to do an upgrade.  Yet, I was envying my Android and iPhone carrying friends to some degree.

Initially, the phone worked like a charm.  I'm not sure what happened but the home button stopped working and my calls now immediately roll into voicemail.  It sucks. I'm in matches of phone tag constantly and there isn't a thing I can do about it except apologize profusely to the people that are trying to contact me.

I took it to T-Mobile.  They looked at it and confirmed the phone wasn't working.  They checked it for water damage and they were ready to switch me to a new phone.

But oooops!  Because it was a freebie phone from Motorola, they told me I had to contact them.  (Which, BTW, I HAD.)

This is where the clusterfuckery begins.  I call and their automated system that routes you to the right person is frustrating at best.  I finally get to someone and she tells me my "options" are to mail the phone in.  I stop and I say "and my other option is?"  She repeats that I can mail the phone in to be repaired.  I explain that "options" is plural which, in English, means there are, at least TWO choices.  I point out she's only given me one choice.  She then corrects herself to stay that is my only option.

WTF?  WTF?  (I'm not pleased to hear this).  I've not bothered to get a home phone. The last one I had in Seoul was just a waste of money.  I rarely used it.

Hell, here I'm never home and, when I am, I don't want to talk to you.  I do have Google Voice and I have made calls via my computer, but what?  You can't send me a loner flip phone or something to tide me over?  WTF?  And, let me point out this piece of crap was given to me by this company.

Anyway, I ask to speak to someone else because this is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a long time.  All around the policy is what it is.  No one can help, not even the folks listening to the conversation via social media (yes, their @MotoMobile Twitter account responded).

The customer service for this
phone sucks on so many levels!
The problem is I was moving so there is no way I'm sending my phone to Texas when I'm trying to move.  I call today because having a phone that doesn't ring is so many levels of ridiculous it's not funny. It's to the point that I'm missing IMPORTANT calls and I'm having a hell of a time just getting things done because people really do screen their calls with voicemail now and call back.

I give up and decide, fine. I've got to bite the bullet, send the phone in and be phoneless for a few days.  30 minutes on the phone to get an RMA number to return the damn phone.  I'm also told postage is on me (fine, fine...the piece of crap phone was free) but that it will take 5 to 7 business days to get it back to me.  EXCUSE ME?

I'll update you all on what happens next, but, trust me, had I known their customer service policy was this shitty I wouldn't have accepted the phone.

So, note to self and anyone who reads this: just don't buy Motorola.  I think I'm going to upgrade to a Samsung Galaxy, I'm just going to try to hold out until I get to the T-mo upgrade period (early November for me.)  I'm not that pleased with T-mo's customer service on this issue either but 1) I didn't buy the phone from them and 2) they have no impact on Motorola's crap service policy.

I'm sorry but eff you Motorola.  You suck.

Yes, I know, lesson to me: a living lesson in you get what you pay for.

More Moto hate here:

Here is the promised Part 2 that I also linked above.
August 12, 07:57 AM
OMG Slate, really? (Not racist but not well thought out either)

Tonight, like most other nights, I was unwinding and goofing off on sites like Twitter and Facebook. Not really a surprise as that's how I make my living now and there are tons of articles and information that rolls across my screen pretty much 24/7.

I follow Emily Bazelon because she's one of the regulars on the Slate Political Gabfest. Emily sent out a retweet (RT). (A RT is just a message that someone decides to repeat to the people who follow them.) 

RT @fmanjoo: How black people use Twitter. My @Slate piece on the latest research on race and microblogging. http://bit.ly/ciIkKw

I've read Slate for years at this point. I know who Farhad Manjaoo is. Also, the title was enticing enough for me to click over. Honestly, I knew it was going to touch upon the hashtags that get really popular in black circles on Twitter. However, this is assumed because Twitter doesn't compile demographic info. Honestly, just because someone puts up a picture of a black person as their Twitter picture, can you really be sure? No.  But I really don't doubt the data that there are a lot of blacks who use Twitter.  On some level, we're having fun with it.

The first thing I see is this image:

from Slate.com
OMFG! Um, okay...what?!!!

In almost all of the articles I read that have a depiction of a Twitter bird, the bird is blue.  However, this article is about black folks, so the bird had to be brown and had to have a baseball cap, right?

I'm not claiming it's racist.  

I'm claiming that it's insensitive and short-sighted.  I do wonder if it wasn't, on some level, intentional.  I mean now a lot more people are clicking over to see what the commotion is all about. They're also linking back to the article. That's good in this brave new Internet world.

I decided to send an @ reply to Farhad.  I was pleasantly surprised that he responded and seem to take a sincere interest in why I was not pleased with the image accompanying his post.

For the sake of completeness, let me post the tweets here in chronological order (as best as I can put them together at 2-something am). His stream is here and mine is on the side if you want to click over and scroll through both pages.
(These first three are in rapid succession.)

Me:

RT @fmanjoo: How black people use Twitter. My @Slate piece on the latest research on race and microblogging. http://bit.ly/ciIkKw

@fmanjoo brown bird and baseball cap? Dude, really? I guess a study focusing on whites will have, oh, wait...they get diverse images.

@fmanjoo Good article though. ;) 

(I didn't want to be too hard, so I balanced the criticism with a compliment. I'd read the article. I know this happens on Twitter. I know it's social scientists doing what they do, so okay. Another social scientist will have a theory on it and have his or her stacks of evidence and analysis to justify their conclusion(s) too. 
The author wrote about it. In the article he acknowledged that this wasn't a complete picture of black activity on Twitter and, for that, I say good job.  I have no interest in broadening my frustration with the image a critique of his writing.  That crosses to bitching because you just want to keep bitching.  It's the image I've got issues with.)

Farhad: 

@ReginaWalton Glad you liked the article. But can you tell me what bothered you about the image? I thought it told the story well.

(Okay, here it goes.)

Me:

@fmanjoo Just wondering if the piece was on NE Asian Twitter users if a yellow bird w/ slanted eyes and a China chop would be on the page?

(I'd already brought up the question of what image would have been used had the topic been about whites and their use of Twitter. If a bird image was chosen, it would have been the standard blue variations that are so common. I'd bet you hard money on it. 
So, okay, let's broaden it to another ethnic group: NE Asians.  Hell, I lived in South Korea for eight years, I think that's a demographic that I can inquire about, right?)

Farhad: 

@ReginaWalton It's tough to depict these topics in a way that doesn't offend everyone and is interesting and aesthetically pleasing.  


(I'm unresponsive and determined to bring this point home.)

Farhad:

@ReginaWalton I understand your criticism, but I wonder what drawing wouldn't be offensive for such a story. 

Me:

@fmanjoo It's the need to put an image that is racially distinct & draws on stereotypes that's irksome. Whites wouldn't get anything similar

Farhad:

@ReginaWalton I see what you're saying. I don't know how we'd have handled it had the story been about another race, but I see your point.

Me:

@fmanjoo i do understand that you can't please them all but it was the first thing I noticed after I clicked over to read it.


@fmanjoo We're sensitive about images depicting us. (Sometimes maybe too much). This seems to happen when the story is about black people.

  
@fmanjoo Thanks for asking me to flesh out my thoughts.

(Then it occurs to me! The perfect image to use? A composite image with a bunch of Twitter photos.  That's easy enough to throw together.  I have it on my Twitter page right now from Twilk.com.  The real photos of the real people who are in this demographic, I think, would have been fair.) 


@fmanjoo oh a suggestion for an image that might have made the cut? A composite image like the one that's my Twitter page background. 

That's where it ended but for sharing a link with him.  However, I think it points to a larger problem.  The lack of black staff at these media companies.  Now, now...I KNOW Slate.com has The Root.  I also know I asked Slate's editor, David Plotz, about why there were rarely any black commentators on Slate's Political Gabfest when they had a live Gabfest here in NYC.  I really do think that Slate.com's staff is well-intentioned and did NOT mean to ruffle anyone's feathers.  

However, the fact is the image did.  I disagree with Farhad's assertion that any image would have gotten push back. (I do think you can't please them all, but that was the case way before the Internet.)  This image was based on a certain image from black American culture.  It's real.  I can walk out of my apartment right now and probably find a young black man with a baseball cap on somewhere in NYC.  

My point is, however, I can also walk out and find a black man in uniform coming home from work.  I can find a black man in a suit leaving a law firm office after putting in a hard day's work.   It reminds me of my father who'd work six days a week at a blue collar dock job and was almost always putting in overtime.  (He gave my mom the checks, trust me, he was clocking some serious overtime.) The image also cuts black women out. I know a lot of women participate in these discussions on Twitter because I'm connected to a couple of women who are always in the hashtag fray when it heats up.  I do sometimes poke my head in when the hashtags heat up and click on it to see who is saying what.  Women are well represented.  (Also, yes, I know women wear baseball caps too but a girl bird would have had long lashes or something indicate it was female.)

It just feels like a lack of awareness of the people who put this together.  Also, with there being very few blacks on staff, I don't think anyone black saw it or, if someone black did see, it they chose to not say anything. (However, I'd hope the environment at Slate is a bit more productive than that.) 

This is laced with a bit of frustration. Honestly, one of my best friends just got an awesome job.  He's also a blond-haired and blue-eyed white male.  I'm ecstatic for him. However, in contrast, I've been back in the States for over a year.  I've gotten a few job interviews, but I support myself now strictly with my freelancing.  

That's great on some level, but I'm still very much underemployed and off of the grid.  That's scary.  It's also really frustrating because I've got the education, the skills and the experience.  It makes me wonder how things would be different if I were a blond-haired and blue-eyed white female. Seeing articles like this doesn't help my perspective either: 1 in Every 4 Blacks is Underemployed, More Black Women Jobless.  It's frustrating because with all I've done, let me get on the subway and you can feel the judgment based on nothing more than me being black, casually dressed and usually having an afro.  

It also reminds me of the much more embarrassing kerfuffle with the release of a book called Love and Consequences in 2008.  Basically, a white woman lied.  She said she was half native American and that she was raised by a black foster family in the neighborhood where I grew up: South Central L.A.  This got her a book contract and enviable media attention just before the book was about to be released.  This set off alarm bells as soon as I heard the premise.  It's hard enough for white couples to adopt black babies. There is no way in hell the system is going to put a white child in the care of a low-income black family in a troubled neighborhood.  No way. I really believe had there been ANY black staff in the decision ranks they would have said as much.

Is it fair to apply that line of thought to this scenario? Maybe. Maybe not. Farhad isn't white.  However, he's also not black. I'm not saying that he can't understand, but I am saying if it was his choice to use that image, he's got to learn.  I had to learn about and understand the particular frustrations my Korean friends have regarding race, so I don't expect anyone who isn't black to know them right off. It's the same with any group, even whites.  Trust me, I've had white friends talk about their perspectives on race and theirs are valuable too.  The issue is the power structure. Which I won't get into as I've written enough.

The problem is usually no one wants to listen when the topic of race comes up because now it is about power.  It takes having an interest, having a dialogue, shutting off the excuses and actually listening versus merely having the dialogue to automatically dismiss what the other person is saying. (On that note this older post: Brilliant: Derailing for Dummies.)  I'm glad Farhad asked.  I'm glad we had a dialogue.  I hope he listened and truly understood my point.

Now it's time for bed.  It's way past my bedtime.

Here is a great blog from the instant vintage blog: ...oh, slate...(Side-Eye).  She's changed the image in question to represent a range of blacks and she'll be adding more.  I've adopted the one with the mortar board for obvious reasons. 


The Black Snob weighs in on the topic here.
 
July 05, 11:18 AM
Six Clips of the 2010 Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Show

A friend and I went out to Clinton Cove Park (on Foursquare, it's Pier 95 Park) yesterday to eat, talk and, ultimately, watch the Macy's 4th of July fireworks display.

When I lived in San Francisco, I would wander down Van Ness to Fisherman's Wharf to see the fireworks show.

I decided to try out the camcorder function on my new Android phone and it's pretty good. You'll hear me and the people who were around me last night here and there. Overall, though I tried to keep my arm up (hard for minutes at a time) and my mouth shut to just enjoy the light show. For some reason, a couple next to us decided that it would be appropriate during the light show to turn on music. Odd, but in the grand scheme of things, minor.

Honestly, it's not the most exciting on tape, but live it was really nice to let go and morph into a little kid. ;)

I taped 6 clips and here they are:












Will I do it next year? Maybe.

My friend and I were pleasantly surprised at how well the crowd behaved and with the crowd control walking out of the area. Overall, it was nice to make the effort to see the show live as yesterday was my first 4th of July in NYC.

Where The Hell Am I?

Blogger and freelance social media manager living in the NYC metro area.

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