Sometimes You Just Need to Dance

Even though my fiancé and I are 19 years apart, there is one thing that we share that is very important to me. Our love for music and thank God that we actually have similar tastes. My vast music collection has always served as bit of a litmus test in my relationships. Even most of my friends give me strange looks at the selections that pop up on my shuffled playlist. I could be listening to anything from Michael Jackson to Mahalia Jackson to Snow Patrol to Darius Rucker (pre and post country), all in one sitting. I’m a very eclectic girl and my music collection reflects this with every press of the play button. I may have even lost out on a few dates after disclosing my love of country or classical music. Yo Yo Ma and Esperanza Spalding make my skin crawl in such a good way!

So, it was no surprise that I would cringe at the idea of our first 10 hour road trip together. I just knew he would look at me with that same weird look that others before had given me. But to my surprise, he loved song after song after song. He fell in love with Snow Patrol and affectionally refers to them as “Snow Ball”. The documentary, Thundersoul, was shown during the Blogalicious 2011 conference and I immediately fell in love with the music. It didn’t take me long to download three of the albums and play it for my honey. Of course he would love it. This was the music of his childhood! We had such a great time dancing in our small apartment, sharing what I now consider to be one of our great memories.

And all of this is on my mind because we are in the car, driving to our second marriage counseling session. Our homework was to make sure we shared one activity a week for the month between our sessions. Dancing around in our apartment was such a simple activity to share, but it sure was special to me.

Yay!

October #13--Before You Forget! Seven Things to Note After Attending a Conference

After returning from Blogalicious 2011, I started thinking about everything that I had absorbed and ideas that were starting to bubble up in my brain. I had notepads and word files and business cards and it all needed to be consolidated in one place before I could forget it all. I made a list of the categories of information I needed to capture and jumped right into organizing and documenting it all.

        ✓        Notable Quotes/Tips--These are all the little tidbits that I picked up in the general sessions, breakout sessions or side conversations. This is a list of things that others are doing or engaging in. Even if there are actions or philosophies that I wouldn’t follow, I still note them for inspiration potential.

        ✓        People to Follow/Comment to--These are all the presenters and attendees who I received business cards from during the conference. The best way to continue to gain inspiration over the coming months/years is to follow the web presence of these people. Not to mention, following them and providing comments/feedback could prompt them to follow me in return.

        ✓        People to Contact Directly--These are direct contacts that I need to make on a more personal basis. If someone suggested I contact them for writing or product review opportunities, they are noted here and become a priority on my to-do list.

        ✓        References--During many of the presentations and conversations, there were so many times when someone said “Oh, you should check this out.” This is the list for those items. These are longer-term items/resources to research and/or follow.

        ✓        Ideas Inspired--There is nothing better for inspiring ideas in you than to listen to people who themselves have done interesting things. These could be direct recommendations or unique spins to what I heard.

        ✓        Next Steps--Reviewing the ideas and resources and quotes/tips will lead to some solid, tangible steps of what I need to do next. This is the section for that. This is not a wish list, but an action list. I will take it one step further and actually put target dates to these steps.

        ✓        Refinements--Maybe the tips/information I received prompted me to think more conceptually about things I am already doing. Making refinements to existing endeavors can take a little more thought and planning. These should be noted and considered here.

Attending a great conference is just the beginning. Make you first “Next Step” taking a little time to complete your conference recap notes.

        

October #12--Conference Recap

Conference Recap, a photo by aldorris105 on Flickr.

There were so many great tips and ideas that came out of the Blogalicious 11 conference. I'm taking the time now to type them all up in my Google Docs for a inspirational reference that I will use to improve my online presence over the next year (until the next conference).

I will be sharing the gems of what I learned and doing some product reviews from the amazing swag that we received. Stay tuned. We have a lot to talk about.

The month is almost over. Are you ready for Nanowrimo and NaBloPoMo?