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Katiebird Is a B.A.D. Blogger!

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Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Katie there?

Katiebird has been incredibly busy at work for at least two months. She’s oveseeing the content revision and revamp of a nearly 3000-page WEBSITE that was built in the late 1990s. It’s getting a design, new navigation, and rebuilt with cascading stylesheets. Whoa! Exciting! Whew! Some work!

Oh did I forget to tell you where she works and what her role is? Katie is Librarian and Database Programmer for an urban library in the midwest of the USA. Yep, that’s right a library, and there’s 25 librarians working on the project. If you haven’t been to a library lately . . . keep reading libraries are really cool.

Half of our conversation was Katie bringing me up to speed on what’s going in libraries. Her library website is filled with pages of crafts, and games, and recipes, and booklists, and book reviews. One particular craft she mentioned, a paper flower designed by a library staff member, gets 10,000 hits a month from all over the world. That’s as many hits as the card catalogue, which is doing well, thank you.

Katie and I discussed how libraries often aren’t thought of being on the edge of technology and how that perception conflicts with reality — that libraries and banks have actually pushed programming forward in some ways. She pointed out that if you go to a library you’ll see a sea of people on computers. Katie also told me about the Database at Home service that allows folks to use the library offsite, and how that’s going to grow in new ways as they integrate electronic books into their services. I was thinking, if people only knew . . . There’s so much to be explored and used.

“It’s an exciting time to be in a library. . . . It’s an exciting time to be blogging.” Katiebird said. “Oh yeah,” was the only appropriate response to that!

When topic turned to blogging, Katie wondered with enthusiasm at this medium that combines the advantages of so many others, bringing people together, making brilliant new kinds of connections. We talked about the people who self-select to become bloggers. She said she was surprised to find how meaningful blogging quickly became. We discussed the communities that form, that links are more than they appear, and how we come to make our blogs our own. Yes, we did say the word addictive, but we meant it in the most positive way. . . . I’m guessing that urban library is going to have a blog when that web site is finally done.

When we finished the call I couldn’t help but think This isn’t your father’s library. This isn’t even the one from college.

Then I wondered how Meredith Wilson would have rewritten Marion, the librarian, if he were commissioned to update his 1957 musical play, The Music Man.

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

I didn’t realize when I started a blog, that I was joining such a strong community of people . . . You’re talking to people who are there every day. You get to know them, their thoughts, and they become dearest friends, yet you’ve never really met in person.–Katiebird

Stop by Katiebird’s blog, Eat4Today, and say hi!

Thanks, Katiebird, you B.A.D. Blogger!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar.

Drew McLellan Is a B.A.D. Blogger

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Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Drew there?

I can’t really remember the first 5 or 10 minutes of our conversation, because Drew and I started with a lovely and quick-paced game of verbal volleyball. It started when I mentioned the Des Moines Blogger Mafia and went rolling quickly out of control from there. I remember laughing, replying, laughing, listening, and laughing some more. That’s my story. You’ll get no more details from me.

As we walked off the virtual verbal volleyball court, the conversation turned to the plight of the father of a 13-year-old daughter. I recalled the days of a son that age. We bemoaned parenthood together. Guess you could say it was bonding to share the “Don’t embarrass me” rule with another parent within the first 20 minutes of saying hello. We discussed how kids that age have the knack of reducing us to mere transportation. Yet despite that they still try to teach us the drop dead importance of fashion statements — complex math clearly beyond our comprehension. Life is rough for the parents of teenagers.

Knowing our limits, we moved on to branding and marketing. Einstein would have said that relatively we had gone from the nebulous to the far more predictable. This was a jungle we understood.

In no time at all we were off again. Drew was explaining career in marketing. A not so great boss who just by existing convinced him to go it alone. Now over a decade later, he’s got a thriving business teaching folks that a brand is more than a name and explaining that customers care about different things than companies do. We talked about how many companies find that information hard to hear — or even more surprising, how many find that news an epiphany.

Drew said that the moment when his clients “get some idea that they never got before” that’s what makes it all worth it. We spent some time talking about why some folks see things and some folks don’t. We both recognized that part of any management or consultant role is teaching. I think we both kind of gravitate to that part of it. We talked about how much we like helping people do things.

It was two bloggers talking about the elephant in the room again. Only this time we were discussing the idea that quality is a given, not a value any more — customers expected a certain level of quality and competitors already have it. Drew and I mentioned clients who want to build “quality,” that customers can’t see, don’t need, or don’t want to pay for. We were back at the Tony D. Clark discussion of letting go — this time from a slightly different perspective.

Drew and I kept talking around the idea of why it’s so hard to get some people to see the way other folks look at the world. . . . I was going to say “to walk in someone else’s shoes,” but I remembered Drew telling me how many pairs of shoes a 13-year-old daughter needs. That simple fact baffled both of us.

I guess there are some things that we can’t see too.

Hey, no one said bloggers are perfect people.

The one’s I’ve met are still remarkable.

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

If you have a vision or a plan for your company sharing it with your employees is a great idea. —Drew McLellan

Stop by Drew’s Blog, Drew’s Marketing Minute, and say hi!

Thanks, Drew, you B.A.D. Blogger!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar.

Victoria Elizabeth Is a B.A.D. Blogger

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Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Victoria Elizabeth there?

Don’t tell the folks in England, but the folks in Canada are only pretending. They might speak to the monarchy over there, but they have a queen over here. She must be royalty. Not only is she called the Quipping Queen, her name is Victoria Elizabeth. You can’t get more stately than a name like that.

Victoria Elizabeth and I have lot in common — she’s a Quipping Queen and I’m a saloonkeeper’s daughter.

Once we said hello, Victoria Elizabeth and I spent 3.2476549388254 seconds on the weather and another 2.99875655 seconds talking about her work experience. Victoria Elizabeth, aka the Quipping Queen, was in Business Development and Strategy. Then she found she liked it better, putting those skills to work as a consultant. She’s been online in one form or another since 1994.

Maybe it was QQVE’s online experience or perhaps it was her royal influence, but we were quickly off the surface and deep into human behavior. We talked about the individuality of bloggers, about how fiercely independent we are. Our conversation included the difference between networking online and networking in person. The Quipping Queen suggested that online connections are specific and narrow — if I want to know about some obscure something, it’s easier to find people who are into just that — blogger relationships are more efficient than real world relationships in that way.

I get jazzed when someone hands me a thought I haven’t had before. I’ll be cooking that one for few months or so.

Victoria and I talked about small talk and perceiving information, how they are really the two ends of one linear spectrum. We covered the topics of innovation and creativity and the reasons that schools and businesses don’t support them. We discussed seeing the elephant the room, how a good idea shifts the balance of power, and what makes folks who live by group think get uncomfortable. For a while there, Joseph Campbell’s Power of Myth was topic on the table.

Let’s just say that we didn’t waste .000000000000001 second on trivial conversation. Bloggers are intriguing, intelligent people.

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

If you want to buy stuff off the rack, you might not appreciate what bloggers have to offer. —Victoria Elizabeth aka The Quipping Queen

Stop by Victoria Elizabeth’s Blog, The Quipping Queen, and say hi!

Thanks, Victoria Elizabeth, you B.A.D. Blogger!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar.

Derek Andrews Is a B.A.D. Blogger!

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Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Derek there?

If you go to Nova Scotia, visit a small village on the north shore called Sea Foam. Find the Sea Foam Woodturning Studio. Step inside and watch the woodturner, Derek Andrews, as he works. When he comes out to talk to you, if you’re a blogger tell him that. He’s a blogger too.

Then be prepared for a rare and wonderful conversation. It’s not every day you get to talk to a man who left a corporate life in England to be a woodturner in a tiny, rual community in Nova Scotia. Derek’s an adventurer, a pioneer, a man who followed a dream across the ocean.

We talked about how he made the decision to move. His wife and he decided that it was change worth going for. She liked the idea of returning to her homeland. They took on the adventure together. They built the store and shop that’s over 10 years old now. Derek’s description of that life-changing decision led me to quote Christine Kane’s lyrics, “Some choices ties us down. Some chances set us free.”

That beginning framed our entire conversation around the woodturning business, the people who come into his shop, the readers who visit Derek’s blogs, and how woodturning and blogging are reflections of life and the people who are attracted to them.

At one point I said that Derek’s studio was like a living blog — a sort of bloggy performance art. His work behind the glass with visitors watching would be the blog post. When he comes out to talk to the visitors, that would be the comment box.

Imagine that — a rural village woodturning studio as a metaphor for a blog. Or do I have that backwards?

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

You never know what you’re going to find when you start cutting into the wood. When you cut off a piece, you can’t go back. It’s like life, whatever you set out to do, you often end up somewhere different.–Derek Andrews

Stop by Derek’s Blog, The Tool Rest, and say hi!

Thanks, Derek, you B.A.D. Blogger!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar.

Roy Jacobsen Is a B.A.D. Blogger!

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Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Roy there?

When two writer/editors first start talking, the conversation can look like almost any other. Roy and I spoke of his current client and the CRM project he’s doing. He said he writes for a newsletter that I always had my entire staff read. Blogger synchronicity again.

Roy led the conversation into when he wrote for Microsoft. He was writing for Windows 3.1 and Windows for Workgroups. I took it further astray by telling him about an advanced Algebra book I did using Word Version 1.0 — before Macs and digital typsetting. I think he said, “Ouch.”

Our conversation also covered some serious topics, particularly the idea that writers and designers need to know their own value, that no one is stuck in a 9 to 5 job. We agree that working for next to nothing won’t bring quality clients, that we have to value our work first.

Once we were comfortable the editors came out to talk.

What do two editors talk about? Well, I can’t tell you everything — the secret handshake stuff just isn’t cool to divulge. But we did our share of discussing subjunctive case, poorly chosen words, and misplaced modifiers. It wasn’t hard for us to pick out examples:

Roy mentioned the unfortunate wording that spoke of the explosive spread of terrorism.

I told him about the phrase messages from people in bottles. He said “How did they get in there?” I said, “Could we let them out?”

I mentioned the commercial break that promised to tell how the history of the gun was changed by the invention of a minister. I pointed out, “I wasn’t aware that’s how ministers came to be.”

Roy said his wife was used to him editing menus. I said my husband was used to me editing parking lots.

We both still get a kick out of signs that say Parking in the Rear. or Slow chjildren playing.

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

The sure cure to being criticized is doing nothing. Then someone will criticize you for not doing anything. —Roy Jacobsen

Stop by Roy’s blog, Writing Clear and Simple, and say hi!

Thanks, Roy, you B.A.D. Blogger!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar.

Kent Blumberg Is a B.A.D. Blogger

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Blogger A Day Call: Hello is Kent there?

After a talk with Barbara at my cellphone company to adjust my minutes higher — I should hold a contest to see who can guess how many a month are in my plan. — I was able to sit back, relax, and meet Kent Blumberg for our conversation.

Kent was well worth that cellphone plan adjustment.

I started with comments about Kent’s blog — how well focused and branded the message is. We discussed the short list of categories that tell a story and the short blogroll that relates and expands on the same theme. I wished out loud that I had such a clean sidebar. That discussion led to a comparison of WordPress and TypePad, with explanations of how he ended up on one and I ended up on the other.

Then I asked one of my favorite questions, “What do you do when you’re not doing this?” Kent explained his background in the paper business. I could related to that. We talked about the ways in which the paper business is shrinking, which led Kent to sharing his interest in a new industry.

Kent sees his future in working with cellulosic-ethanol. I didn’t know what it is either. Lucky for me, Kent does a great job explaining it. Get him talking about it and you might suspect that he had it for breakfast — his energy level goes up, as if he’s been refueled. (Okay so, now and then I go for the easy one. Sorry, Kent.)

Kent’s not only sure cellulosic-ethanol is in his future, but also sure that it’s in ours. He knows that the industry needs strong business leaders. He plans to be there to make the new fuel and new jobs this fledgling industry will bring.

I love the way that when bloggers talk, we can’t help but learn new things from each other.

B.A.D. Blogger Quote

People will hear more and more about cellulosic-ethanol. . . . All of the companies are run by by PhDs and they need people to build and run the businesses.–Kent Blumberg

Stop by Kent’s blog, and say hi!

Thanks, Kent, you B.A.D. Blogger!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Want to be a B.A.D. Blogger see the. . . a B.A.D. Blogger? page in the sidebar.