2008 March | Social Desire

Archive for March, 2008

8 Random Things about Me - A Meme

I have been tagged by Julie Joyce, one of my favorite SEO Chicks, to do the Meme, "8 Random things About Me". Being a huge fan of all the SEO Chicks I was more than a little excited about participating in this Meme. So, here are 8 Random things about Me.

8 Random things you didn’t Know about Me

I have a HUGE fear of failure. And, it appears that in worrying constantly about failing I rarely, if ever, enjoy the rewards of success.
I love puzzles. I don’t have much time to enjoy them these days, but I really love a challenging Jigsaw puzzle. I love them so much that once I start one I can’t stand ANYONE touching them. This is probably because I want to say that I completed it myself. One time I noticed someone had touched my puzzle… I immediately went out and bought two huge shopping bags of jigsaw puzzles. I had toddler puzzles all the way up to challenging adult puzzles. This way there was no need for anyone to touch my puzzle…. they can easily find their own puzzle to put together without touching mine.
I love making people smile - Truly…. I love it!! I would rather make people smile than doing something for myself. It gives me such a good feeling to see a smile on someone’s face and knowing that I have the ability to make someone happy.
Tennis is my Sport of Choice - I love to play tennis!! Am I any good? I think so…. But, even if I wasn’t I wouldn’t care. That’s how much I love it… I just want to be playing. Last summer I bought my 11 year old all the supplies he needed to play tennis. Did he ask for them? No. But, this way I could have a tennis player available whenever I was ready to play. Good thing he loves to play too.
My Best Friend is my Younger Sister - And, she is one of the most talented and beautiful people that I know. I credit her for my online success as she is the one who introduced me to Web Design years ago. Plus, she is one of the few people that on a very difficult day could make me laugh till I cry or pee my pants…. whatever comes first.

My sister Rachel, my father, and myself. I was six.
I give birth to Monster Babies - No lie. My largest baby was my daughter. Hannah weighed 11 pounds 12 1/4 ounces and she was born the OLD FASHIONED WAY a week earlier than planned. The doctors had no idea how large she was until she was born. It reminds me how amazing the human body is.

My daughter at a couple minutes old. 11 lbs. 12.25 oz.
I love Musicals!! - They are amazing to watch and I leave feeling totally satisfied. Musicals are filled with multi-talented people and I love watching that. It reminds me of the wonderful times I would spend with my Grandma. Her and I would sit and watch old movies together. You know, the movies with Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. I loved watching movies with her.
I have a Chronic Illness - Up until this point only a very few people know about this fact. I got very sick in July of 2006 and finally in August of 2007 I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can affect various parts of the body, including the skin, joints, heart, lungs, blood, kidneys and brain. My immune system is overactive and attacks my own body parts. Unfortunately, the form of Lupus I have is the most severe…. my immune system is attacking my Central Nervous System and Brain. The diagnosis is still quite new and I am trying to deal with how my life has changed and will continue to change. I continue to morn the person I was prior to diagnosis and that is one of the hardest things I had to go through thus far. Some days I feel quite well while other days it is so difficult just to get out of the bed in the morning.

So, there you go…. 8 random things about me. Some you might not have known and others you might wish you still didn’t know about me. But, like it or not…… it’s me.

Thank you so much Julie for tagging me for this meme. I am tagging the following three for this Meme:

Social Media Mom , Taylor Pratt & Sean Maney

Posted in Blogging, Interviews, Link Love, Meme | 29 Comments »

I’m Not Only a Social Media Marketer… I’m also the Tooth Fairy.

Wednesday, March 12th, 2008

I have a little secret…. I’m the tooth fairy. It’s true. And, guess what else?! I’m also Santa Clause, The Easter Bunny, and Cupid.

Last week my 6 year old daughter, Hannah lost one of her front teeth and just yesterday she lost the other front tooth. She is missing both of her front teeth and as I stare at her beautiful face and her cute smile I realize how special this time is for her…. and for me for that matter. I haven’t seen her gums like this since she was an infant. And, it reminds me that she is growing up and how quickly the time goes.

So, as I do with all of my children when they lose a tooth I become the tooth fairy. I grab my wings, tiara and wand from my "special closet". These items sit next to my Santa, Easter Bunny, Cupid as they do for most parents. These are roles that I am proud to hold and it got me thinking….

How has the introduction of Web 2.0 changed these Special Days for the Kids?

How Web 2.0 adds Pizzazz to our Children’s Holidays

Tooth Fairy

Tooth Fairy has her own blog
There is actually an entire Island that your kids can visit virtually called Tooth fairy Island… Very cute.
Receive letters from the Tooth Fairy
I always had tons of questions for the Tooth Fairy…. Find out the answers to many questions.

Easter & the Easter Bunny

Decorate Easter Eggs
Virtual Easter Egg Hunt
Buy your Easter Bunny Costume on the Internet
Easter Bunny Photo Sharing

St. Valentine’s Day & Cupid

Try and Catch Cupid
St. Valentine’s Online Kissing Game - I virtually kissed a frog to find out if I will spend my days in the castle…. I found out that the frog turned into a gross gator. YUK!!
Kids can ask The Love Duck questions and get answers.
Kids can make a Virtual Valentine’s Cake for their Friends or for their Parents.

Christmas & Santa Claus

Santa blogs as well.
Email Santa
Decorate Christmas Trees with Friends Online
Kids can check if they are on Santa’s Naughty or Nice List
Add your Child to the Naughty List - They will receive a letter from Santa regarding their naughtiness and a lump of coal.
Send Santa your Wish List
Track Santa
Chat with Santa

Web 2.0 isn’t going to change the fact that usually around 8 years of age children start wondering if these characters are real or not. It’s sad, but it’s true….. children will figure it out. I actually had this discussion on Twitter earlier today and found some interesting ways that children found out that these Holiday Characters weren’t who they thought they were. They were, in fact, their parents. There is no interactive website that will change this fact. The only thing we can do is help our children believe in the imaginary for as long as we can.

All of the above amazing Web 2.0 methods for kids to enjoy the Holidays doesn’t change the fact that Parents will remain involved in helping their children believe in the "Imaginary". But, I believe that these sites add a bit to the excitement of the holidays. And, it doesn’t mean that as a parent I am not going to stick to tradition…. I enjoy my many roles as a Mom. And, my dress-up clothes are not going anywhere!! I loved dressing up as a child and I still love dressing as an adult…. I wouldn’t change that for the World.

So, as I hang up my Tooth Fairy Wings, Tiara and Wand until the next missing tooth in my household I am already dusting off my Easter Bunny Suit, pulling out the plastic eggs, baskets and easter grass from the closet. But, I can guarantee that a little Easter 2.0 will be on the way too…. nothing like a good Online Easter Egg Hung to prepare the Kids for the real thing.

web 2.0 holidays kids children holiday fun games activities tooth+fairy easter valentines easter+bunny

Posted in Blogging, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter, Web 2.0, Web 2.0 Basics | 8 Comments »

Lymphoma the Victor in IM-NY BOTW SMO Contest For Charity!

Thursday, March 6th, 2008

Each year coinciding with a major SEM event, The Internet Marketers of NY throw a Manhattan party bash to benefit a deserving charity. This year during Search Engine Strategies New York, the event’s sponsor Best of the Web ran a friendly poll where “advocates” ran unofficial social media campaigns, amongst SEOs and other communities, to help choose the lucky charity to receive the funds.

Jennifer Laycock, advocate of the HMBANA Milk Bank was in the process of kicking everybody’s asses with a miraculous come from behind Rally. This Grand Master of Mommy Links (and industry luminary) was sending out twitter blasts in 10-minute increments and had taken the lead.

Jennifer timed it perfectly, waited until the last minute, worked it, and was poised to bring the loot home for the Milk Bank. Which, let me just say, is an amazing charity. HMBANA Milk Bank is able to provide breast milk to premature babies who are in desperate need of the extra nutrition. Being the amazing Mommy that she is, it is no wonder that Jennifer battled to the last minute for her Charity of choice.

Then aimClear and all the other Lymphoma supporters roared back with SearchEngineWatch and aimClearBlog posts, StumbleUpon, email, and PM campaigns to the far corners of the earth. (Does that guy ever sleep?) You see, 3 years ago Marty survived Lymphoma Stage 3B, so this cause is also close to his heart.

The other contestant-charities were Camp Interactive and the National Association for Colitis and Crohn’s Disease advocated by Sara Holoubek and Mel Carson respectively. These are very worthy causes, which help a LOT of good folks out. Congratulations and thank you to all the bloggers who participated in supporting. We hope to see you at the party on March 18th during SES. (details here)

Posted in Conferences, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking | 4 Comments »

Social Desire

Archive for March, 2008

8 Random Things about Me - A Meme

8 Random things you didn’t Know about Me

I’m Not Only a Social Media Marketer… I’m also the Tooth Fairy.

How Web 2.0 adds Pizzazz to our Children’s Holidays

Tooth Fairy

Easter & the Easter Bunny

St. Valentine’s Day & Cupid

Christmas & Santa Claus

Lymphoma the Victor in IM-NY BOTW SMO Contest For Charity!

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Shana Albert

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