It used to be the case that I enjoyed shopping at Costco about as much as I did visiting my dentist for a root canal…without Novocain. It ranked right up there with sitting in heavy traffic, cleaning toilets, and judging a fingernail scratching a chalkboard contest. I don’t want to go in to all the reasons why this was the case, but I will say that it was a combination of my lack of affinity for shopping in general, my overall views on the mega-store concept, and the fact that Costco will sample the you-know-what out of its products, but won’t let the customer sample wine. (The latter is a topic for another time)
Well, that all changed with the Invention of Costco Wars (except for the wine sampling part). I know longer mind going to Costco, even on a busy Saturday afternoon. In fact, that is even a better time to go if Costco wars are the goal. What are Costco wars, you ask? Well, first off, they are not wars in the sense you might be thinking. Instead, they are a variety of challenges and dares related to shopping at Costco. The concept was spawned out of Twitter conversation between Felicia Yonter and me. It is meant to add (more) fun to the shopping experience, but I don’t need to explain it here because Felicia does a fantastic job of it on her blog so check it out, join in the games, and please post your ideas and results on Twitter or to either of our sites.
-Unfortunately necessary disclaimer copied from Felicia’s post: This is a fun game suggestion and is in no way affiliated with Costco officially, although Costco employees are welcome to participate. Please do not get hurt and absolutely do not hurt others in an effort to snap a picture for participation. Jeez.-
written by Kevin Vandever
\\ tags: #costcowars, Costco
It has been a really cool ride the last year on Twitter. I never would have guessed that I’d have so many engaging relationships resulting from multiple 140 character conversations. I entered Twitter to help promote a couple blog ideas and although it has helped in that endeavor, it turns out that I am spending way more time and having way more fun just building relationships for their own sake. So for my special edition of #followfriday, I bring you my Thanksgiving #thankfulthursday #tweetsgiving list in alphabetical order ’cause I’m diplomatic like that! There are some repeat #followfriday offenders, but since this is my year-end list, I included them again.
@angelica7641 – As surprised as I am that I have so many great Twitter friendships, I am even more surprised that a Steelers fan made the list. Our Twitter conversations range from football to corporate life to social media and recently to boxing when I found out that she is boxing fan and trainer. So from now on, I will only talk junk about the Steelers from a distance.
@champsuperstar – This girl ROCKS! I love her tweets. She lives in New Orleans (major points), is active in the community (major points) and is a fellow Jon Dee Graham fan (more points than I can count).
@debdobson – Deb is a Kansas City Chiefs and Royals fan. I didn’t know that they still existed. She takes a lot of abuse from us on Twitter and is a good sport about it.
@desireekoh13 – I have not met Desiree in real life (IRL), but my wife used to work with her and mentioned that I should reach out as she is a fellow writer. Ha, we may have talked about writing once, but since then you name it and we have probably tweeted each other about it. This women lives life to the fullest and I so look forward to meeting her IRL.
@foiledcupcakes – Mari is awesome. Simple. Great sense of humor, successful business woman, and she is interested in jazz. She writes a very cool blog that gives credit to others for their thoughts and ideas. I also look forward to meeting her IRL one day.
@geekwearsprada – Cyn is a fellow Red Sox fan and what sets her apart from others are her poetic, Red Sox shout-outs to a few of us each day during the baseball season. Red Sox baseball is no longer complete without her tweets.
@ginidietrich – Finally met IRL after many Twitter discussions on a variety of topics. Probably not much I can add about Gini that hasn’t already been said by so many – including me in a prior #followfriday post – but I like the challenge so let’s see…hmm. Oh yeah, I know at least two things about Gini that I am pretty sure no one else knows. And I’m not tellin! (Although I will listen to cash offers).
@jeffmello – is a fellow Red Sox fan and runs The Ulitmate Sports Calendar, a very cool web site where you can keep track of when your favorite teams play. He can also be found on Twitter many evenings blipping his favorite #mellotunes for our listening pleasure.
@jennifervides – As fun as they come. Knows college football as well as anyone I know (tied with @kerbehr) and she pays off her bets when she loses. I also know her IRL and consider her a good friend.
@julito77 – Fellow Red Sox fan and my Twitter trouble-making partner in crime. I met Julio IRL earlier this year and since then we have shared thoughts and stories on many subjects ranging from college days to parenthood and most everything in between. He is one cool dude and am I glad to call him my friend.
@justinthesouth – Another fellow Red Sox fan and one of nicest guys I know on Twitter. As I’ve said before about Justin, he is the first to sincerely ask about someone’s day, remember a project he or she is working on, and promote them in one form or another.
@katjaib – Sincere, witty, warm and a great writer. I really enjoy my tweets with Kat and can’t wait to read more of here writing. And no, my receiving one of her prestigious Katnip awards had nothing to do with her making this list. She was on a #followfriday list of mine earlier this year before I won that award. Just so I set the record straight.
@kerbehr – Kerri was my friend in real life (IRL) before Twitter, but we’ve taken and enjoyed the Twitter journey together. We have lots of fun, talk college football trash, and learn more about social media for our place of employment.
@kirstenwright – I met Kirsten earlier this year to discuss business ideas and opportunities. She is very smart, a talented graphic designer and writer, and she really understands the social networking world.
@nancymyrland – Nancy and I are fairly new Twitter friends, but I really enjoy our discussions. If I ask a poll question or put out one of my silly, cryptic tweets, Nancy is one of the first to answer or play along with my knuckleheadness (new word). Her warmth comes through in her tweets and that is a great trait to have, in my opinion.
@papijulio – I’ve broken bread with this man a couple of times when he’s visited the LA area. He’s kind, warm, engaging and full of wisdom.
@Pats4Me – Newest member to the #posse. She is still trying to figure out all the rules. (we don’t know all the rules either, we make ‘em up as we go). She lives life with passion and LOVES the Patriots.
@shandrab – One of my favorite people on Twitter. Shandra is smart, funny, and wicked sarcastic. We often tweet of Vikings and Unicorns and #geekout over video embedding, blogging platforms and our latest adventure learning to surf the Google Wave.
@simasays – I almost met Sima IRL. We were a few stages from each other at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and later only a few bars from each other in the French Quarter. We weren’t able to make it work then, but some day we will catch some live music together.
@sloane – I met Sloane in New Orleans when she was down there with no other agenda than to get involved. And get involved she did. Now she’s moving down there and I am both envious of, and very happy for, her. She writes a great blog that is well worth the visit.
@uprisenuplift – One of my first Twitter friends, Cheryl is a very positive person and lives up to her profile name uprising and uplifting those around her.
@zoeyjordan – Zoey is another smart, funny, sarcastic biz partner twitter friend of mine. We live in the same state (that is California, not some mental state, although that may be true, too), but on opposite ends so I have yet to meet her IRL. One day, the fam and I are going to take her up on the invitation to head her way and go snowboarding and ibuprofen eating.
Happy Thanksgiving!
written by Kevin Vandever
\\ tags: #followfriday, #thankfulthursday, #tweetsgiving
As many of you know, the social networking site, Twitter.com, was partially inoperative this morning. In fact, as of this post it is still not working properly. This messed me up far more than I thought it would and way more than it should have, but all was not lost. It turns out one can be very productive when he or she is not tweeting. The following is what I did while Twitter was down:
Signed on to Facebook.
Oh, and wrote this blog post.
There you have it. Don’t let Twitter control your life. Know that you have other options. Breathe deeply, re-focus your energy, and be all you can be. It just takes patience, perseverance, and a valid Facebook account.
What did you do while Twitter was down?
written by Kevin Vandever
\\ tags: Facebook, social media, Twitter
Here are this week’s recommendations:
@jennifervides and I were recently introduced to each other by our mutual friend, Julio Varela, and we have quickly formed a friendship. She and I are the co-founders of #collegefootballtweetup, which will take place on Saturday, November 14 when my UNC Tar Heels take on her University of Miami Hurricanes. To make things more interesting, Jennifer and I engaged in a little friendly wager for this particular game. You can read about it here and my response here. If you can look past her poor taste in college football teams you will find a very cool person. I look forward to November 14.
@angelica7641 and I got to know each over a few social media conversations, specifically on what to expect when implementing a social media strategy in the workplace. She was very helpful and provided a unique perspective on the subject. I can also tell you that she is a Steeler’s fan who lives in Chicago and that she is currently working on a very important media project that will right the terrible wrong that took place shortly after the Bears/Steelers game last Sunday. She loves to promote this project so please ask her about it.
@jeffmello is a fellow Red Sox fan and runs The Ulitmate Sports Calendar, a very cool web site where you can keep track of when your favorite teams play and have reminders sent to you via RSS feed, email, or text. He can also be found on Twitter many evenings blipping his favorite #mellotunes for our listening pleasure (please don’t let the fact that there is a small group of people working together to ban a certain artist from the #mellotunes blip feed get in the way of your enjoyment)
@justinthesouth is a family man, owner of the Social Village and all around nice guy. He is the first to sincerely ask about someone’s day, remember a project he or she is working on, and promote them in one form or another. He is also a Red Sox fan, but I don’t think he likes my Tar Heels very much.
@katjaib is someone whom I just started to interact with on Twitter, and I am glad that I did. She is upbeat and positive and believes that we should use our powers for good. I agree with her. Check out her blog, Pay It Forward, to see what I mean. Plus, Kat really liked my pirate tweet on International Talk Like A Pirate Day and that scored big-time points.
written by Kevin Vandever
\\ tags: #followfriday, Twitter
Here is this week’s #followfriday recommendation list.
@kirstenwright. I met Kirsten earlier this year to discuss business ideas and opportunities. She is very smart, a talented graphic designer and writer, and she really understands the social networking world. In addition to following her, you should also check out her blog at wrightcreativity.
@desireekoh13. Desiree’s bio speaks to her better than I can: Cubs fou, Springsteen wife, hot dog connoisseur, cheese fries lobbyist, beer guzzler, pizza president, ice cream savant, tri/marathon finisher, Himalayan yak. I will only add that she lives and loves life to the fullest and somehow manages to fit a successful writing career in there somewhere. Follow this woman now!
@kerbehr. I knew Kerri in real life before I knew her on Twitter (wow, is that even possible?). She is a good friend and fellow Behr associate, who has been given the daunting tasks to research how social media (SM) can help Behr, sell to the executives why Behr should engage in SM, and after she is successful with the first two tasks, help with implementation of Behr’s SM strategy. You should follow Kerri because she is a great person and because she would like share and learn SM-related experiences. Try not to hold against her the fact that she is a Clemson grad.
@VinoLvr. I also know Corina in real life and have known her for over twenty years. Follow her because she has GREAT taste in husbands and also because she is spontaneous, funny, loving, smart, no pushover, and is extremely knowledgeable in all aspects of the wine world. She will throw up when she reads this.
@papijulio. If I had put together this list yesterday, Papi Julio would not have been included, and that is because I did not know him on Twitter or in real life. However, I had the opportunity to meet this man in person last night at a small gathering with his son, @julito77 (a #followfriday recommendation from last week) and I now highly recommend you follow him and, better yet, figure out a way to meet him in person. He is kind, funny, and has a refreshing and positive outlook on life.
written by Kevin Vandever
\\ tags: #followfriday, Twitter
I have not engaged much in Twitter’s Follow Friday(hashtag #followfriday) up to now. It is not because I don’t believe in the concept. I have recommended that my current followers follow someone new but those recommendations were few and far between. My primary reason for not engaging was the flooding of Follow Friday tweets seemingly without much thought, even to the extent that some were cramming as many people as they could into 140 characters, shortening the #followfriday hashtag to #ff and tweeting away. That didn’t sit well with me and sometimes turned #followfriday into #unfollowfriday.
Lately, I’ve noticed that some folks have written blog entries for their Follow Friday recommendations. I like this idea because it will allow me to explain why I am recommending a certain person and I will also be able to keep track of who I recommended in the past, which might be fun. More recently, I have seen a couple video #followfriday recommendations and that really appeals to me, and is what I was planning to do today; however, I had some technical difficulties with my camera — and by technical difficulties I mean the battery was drained and I didn’t have time to recharge, get the #followfriday video out, and make it to work on time — so instead I will follow the advice of my brother, who says that I have a face for blogging, not video blogging, and write out my first ever #followfriday blog entry. This week’s 5 are as follows:
@ginidietrich I am not the first to add Gini to the top of a #followfriday list and I am certainly not the last. I have never met her in person, but I feel like I know her and that we are becoming fast friends. If you only follower her for her wisdom on social media and business savvy/expertise as the CEO of her own PR/Communications firm you are wise, but there is so much more to Gini. She is an avid (obsessive, competitive, insane) cyclist, a Chicago Bear fan, and can take a joke and ribbing as well as she can give it. We have discussed business ideas, fitness goals, and potential recipes for a future cook-off all through Twitter and a couple email messages. She once challenged me to make her laugh by sending her direct messages (DMs) while she was doing a live radio show. I failed to make her laugh on the air, but I don’t think I failed to forge a friendship.
@champsuperstar Champ is another who I have yet to meet in person (as are all 5 of my recommendations this week), but I have come close. She resides in my favorite city, New Orleans, and during my last trip down there, we tweeted back and forth a couple times, but couldn’t quite meet up. Champ is very good at tweeting about her life in New Orleans and because of this we have engaged in a wide and interesting range of twitter conversations. Oh yeah, and she is a fan of Austin-based rocker, Jon Dee Graham, which is reason enough to follow her.
@julito77 Julio is one of my newest Twitter friends and is quickly becoming one of my favorites. He is another, like @ginidietrich, who successfully mixes business-related tweets with fun, humorous and entertaining tweets. He is a fellow Red Sox fan and also performs comedy improvisation when he’s not running his business or spending quality time with his family. He also likes the movie, High Fidelity, and recently recommended that I read the book. Cool dude.
@foiledcupcakes Another Chicago area Twitter friend. Mari operates a gourmet cupcake company that she markets primarily through Twitter and Facebook. She hasn’t expanded outside of the Chicago area, yet, but I am still working on her. In addition to cupcakes and the cupcake business, we’ve tweeted about music and music tastes. You won’t find this in her bio, but she likes jazz and is quietly trying to become the next jazz life junkie.
@simasays Wow, a third Chicago-based Twitter friend. Sima is another who I’ve almost met in real life (IRL). We first connected when I found out that she was also heading to New Orleans for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival. We were unable to meet up for a couple reasons, but since that time, we’ve continued growing our Twitter friendship around music and wine discussions. She is well connected in the social media scene in Chicago and I find her tweets filled with valuable information.
There you have it. My 5 for Follow Friday. I look forward to one day meeting all 5 of these folks IRL and I hope those who read this take the time to follow each of them. Tune in each week as I have so many more cool tweeple to recommend to you.
Thanks,
Kevin.
written by Kevin Vandever
\\ tags: #followfriday, Twitter
From this moment on, I will no longer use jazzlifejunkie as my primary Twitter handle. Instead, I will go with my name, kevinvandever. Not to worry, I am still a jazz life junkie and will still tweet about jazz and follow like minded jazz tweeps. In fact, nothing much will change about me or my tweets, but since my networks on Twitter have expanded beyond jazz into other personal and professional areas of my life, I no longer feel that jazzlifejunkie captures the complete essence of my Twitter existence. My Twitterverse has become an extension of my universe…my kevinness, if you will, so it seems that the only true way to capture the essence of my Twitter existence is to use the name that the essence defines — kevinvandever. That, and the fact that social media/personal branding best practices state that I should use part or all of my name as my Twitter handle may have influenced me a little.
written by Kevin Vandever
\\ tags: Social Networking, Twitter
Tweeple don’t like to lose followers. I know this because I’ve seen the tweets. It’s just one more area where we question our value in society. In this case, Twitter society. I have started to watch my own follower count fluctuate and I have the same questions as all of you. Do I tweet too much? Not enough? Should I reply, retweet, and direct message (DM) more…or less? Am I not sharing enough links to news items and blogs? Should I be preaching Tweetiquette, using more #hashtags, and can I recommend following someone on a day other than Friday?
Tweeting is a lot of pressure. Think about it. Other than a DM, when you prepare a tweet, you do so for your whole community; that is, everyone who is following you. In real life (remember that?), it would equate to your giving a speech to everyone you know every single time you spoke. Kind of like the President. Maybe that’s why he’s so comfortable on Twitter. Hmm. Anyway, when you combine all that pressure of tweeting with the torture of having to watch as your follower list dwindles, you can see how some twitterers lose their way and start auto-DMing or slamming products and services down our Tweetdecks every 15 minutes for weeks on end. These tweeple just couldn’t take it anymore. That’s the only explanation.
If that’s not enough, the stress is compounded by the fact that the more followers one has, the more elite the twocial twatus one has (too much with the Twitterisms?). So while we are trying to accumulate followers in order to increase our tworth (I can’t help it), we are also increasing the importance of each tweet and subsequently adding more stress to our Twitter lives. This doesn’t happen on Facebook.
Lucky for us there is an answer, but it lies in our darkest twitter fears. The Unfollow Button. Yes, that same button that causes so much grief in our Twitter lives when employed against us can now be used to make everything right and whole again. Like using a strain of bacteria to create the antibody that will cure us (I hope I have my science right), we can use the unfollow button to snatch our confidence and self-estweem back. We have the power to create our own audience. You don’t like constant product/service push and the auto-DM tweeps, unfollow them. It’s your choice. Follow who you want. Set up your own community and if someone decides to unfollow you, don’t read too much into it – unless you are a Twitter pain in the ass in which case you should read a lot into it.
Looking at this a little closer, isn’t the Unfollow button the greatest invention ever? You don’t like what folks are Tweeting, click Unfollow and your world instantly becomes a better place. It makes me wonder why we worry so much about Twitter behavior. Talk about a self-policing community. I wish I had that button in my non-Twitter world. Man, would that be great. I’d be clicking that sucker left and right. Think the Staples Easy button is cool, it would have nothin’ on the Unfollow button. But since the Unfollow button only exists in Twitterland, for now, I will learn to use it wisely and know that I am empowered to create my own community, not solely based on the number of followers and those I follow, but based more on the quality of the tweet within whatever sized community I have. I will learn to embrace the follower count and know that when it decreases, it does so in the name of making everyone’s Twitter experience a better one. As Jack Handy Stuart Smalley would say if he were on Twitter, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and gosh darn it, Tweeple Tweet me!”
written by Kevin Vandever
\\ tags: Follow, Social Networking, Twitter, Unfollow
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