You may remember that I was geeking out and going to a conference just for WordPress. I did, and I thought I’d share a little about what I learned there.
1. Wordcamp, like conferences in any field, is not MOSTLY about the content of the conference. It’s more about the people that you meet at the conference and the connections you make. Conferences are a great opportunity to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Will you talk with people you don’t know? Complete strangers? Will you contribute to the conversation by sharing what you know, even if you’re not the “expert” in the room? Will you ask for help from those who are? Read Never Eat Alone for encouragement in this area.
2. But, about the CONTENT. Apparently, some attendees thought it was a little low-bar for a WordCamp. As a decidedly UN-expert with WordPress, I found some sessions VERY helpful (Legal Issues), and some not so much (WordPress in the Corporate World, and Social Media). Some were just over my head (unfortunately, it was the very session I needed to understand most: WordPress MU and BuddyPress).
Break in the action: Watching Glee premiere, and love it.
I can understand, though. In my previous life, if I would have gone to a youth ministry conference, and all they talked about was the Four Spiritual Laws, I might have felt a little offended. Even if it would have served as a good reminder of where we all came from. As another WordCamp reviewer has written, “Everyone had to start somewhere.”
Glee update: the show is set in Ohio. Awesome.
3. Having said that, I enjoyed WordCamp. It encouraged me to continue building my business knowing that I have the experience and tools to do so. I suspect that somewhere down the line, I’m going to need to partner with a developer who understands the platform’s backend better than I do. BUT, that’s the great thing about WordPress. You can build some really amazing sites without knowing the details of the backend, necessarily.
So that’s all. No huge smackdown, and no HUGE love. I was encouraged and got the exact answers I was looking for. Thanks to wyliemac for organizing it!
If you are having YOUR best year yet, then you know that having your best year yet doesn’ t just happen. You have to really work for it. For our family, that means that Bob works nights at a job that…well let’s just say it’s not best suited for skills. He goes to work at 6:30PM four or five days a week and gets home anywhere from midnight to 6AM. After he goes to work, I put Nila to bed around 6:45PM or 7PM, and I get to work on AngieMeekerDesigns.
Last Saturday, I spent the entire day at the library working on two new sites that the Central Ohio Crime Stoppers are rolling out. On Sunday, I lost everything I’d done because of a problem with the hosting servers, AND at the same time, lost the existing site. I was on the phone with tech support for at least three hours both Sunday and Monday night, and finally got it back up around 1AM Monday night. I spent another hour Monday setting up one of the new sites (again). Good thing, because on Tuesday morning while I was continuing to work on it, a local news station called and wanted to do a story on it. I told them I didn’t think it was complete enough yet, but they wanted to because it’s sweeps week, and the company’s pres wanted to do it, too. So, “we” were on the news again (third time in six months). Not bad.
We’re also in talks with a consulting firm about the possibility of joining their team. They already have some inroads into the national crime organization and could easily send a lot of business my way, if their ideas (and my implementation) are accepted by the national org. At the same time, I was already doing and planning on expanding the same services myself. I suppose the primary benefit is the fact that they are positioned to market what I’m already doing and can do (and, they DO bring an additional element to the table which I’m not offering, donor development and fundraising strategy). The primary con of working with them is that I will make a lesser initial profit as we change the pricing structure for their package. Ugh. I don’t know.
Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
I went to the library last weekend to work on Saturday (I can get a lot done there because it is quiet and sans – bebe). On the way out, I noticed they had a sign which read, “#1 Library in the Country. Again.” So modest, our Columbus Public Library.
Not at all what I intend to write about, just wanted to share. The book above, I’m reading it now and I got it from the library, in case you wanted to follow that rabbit trail.
Here is an excerpt from the book. The author is speaking about how he grew up as a have-not and caddied at a local golf course.
As a kid, I caddied at the local country club for the homeowners and their children living in the wealthy town next to mine. It made me think often and hard about those who succeed and those who don’t. I made an observation in those days that would alter the way I viewed the world.
During those long stretches on the links, as I carried their bags, I watched how the people who had reached professional heights unknown to my father and mother helped each other. They found one another jobs, they invested time and money in one another’s ideas, and they made sure their kids got help getting into the best schools, got the right internships, and ultimately, got the best jobs.
Before my eyes, I saw proof that success breeds success and, indeed, the rich do get richer. Their web of friends and associates was the most potent club the people I caddied for had in their bags! Poverty, I realized wasn’t only a lack of financial resources; it was isolation from the kind of people that could help you make more of yourself.
I would like to provide a commentary on this excerpt, but I’m honestly at a loss for words. If I can get the thoughts together over the next day or so, I will share them here. Otherwise, if you want to provide the commentary yourself…here’s my offer. Get the book from your library or buy it at the link above. Read it, and I’ll invite you to be an author here. You can write your very own commentary here as we read the book together.
Or you can just post in the comments. Whatever.
1. Nila is pretty well sleeping through the night now, and sleeping in until 7AM or 8AM. Pure joy, she is.
2. This morning Bob and I met with Mike Johnson, a trainer with whom I’m bartering services for a website. Our time with Mike started with a fitness assessment and ended with a promise that “we would hate our workout routines.” That’s probably what we need.
3. As you know, I went to part time at my office job about three weeks ago. We are looking for my replacement even now so that I can come home and work and play. Today I read this in a resume and couldn’t help but laugh:
Excellent spelling, grammar and punctuation’s
I kid you not. She obviously didn’t make the first round.
4. We are about to launch another Crime Stoppers site for our local affiliate. You can watch it come to life at http://ohmw.stopcrime.org if you’d like. I might even use some of you as testers!
5. Tomorrow morning I am going to take a first shot at making some sales calls for our Crime Stoppers websites. I think I’m going to say something like this:
Hi. This is Angie Meeker from YourCrimeSite.com. Don’t hang up.
and go from there. I am NOT super-excited about sales calls, but I have to do it.
A vision is a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be. I have one. I have this picture of what our life should be, and we’re working on it. But up to now, only parts of it. It’s as if we’ve believed Section A + C of the vision could be accomplished, and we’re making progress in those areas, but we’ve been totally self-defeating in Sections B, D and E. No more. I don’t know if the word is focus, concentrate, believe, dedicate, commit – or maybe focenlievacatit, some combination of all of them… but what ever it is, we need to do it in order to have our Best Year Yet (which has become our slogan for 2009). It’s like this (as an example): If I want to be a person who has clean baseboards, I have to come to a DEEP realization that they’re not going to magically get (or stay) clean! SOMEONE has to clean them, and have a plan for WHEN and HOW they’re going to be cleaned. So it is in Areas A-D.
So I’ve posted the pics the past two days, but never updated you on the story. If you’ve been around here for a while, you know I like to barter. I was at it again two weeks ago, and the result was this garden.
A company called Maxum Gardening runs a program called Green and Pink – they set up gardens for families who can’t afford them. We have been working at our “garden” for a few months, but when I saw them doing this good work, I emailed them to ask if they’d like a website in exchange for setting up our garden. They said yes, and two weeks later, we have this! It actually only took them a total of one day to put it in.
We’re super excited – they not only did our garden, but actually redid our patio in the process.
If you are of the philanthropic type, here’s something for you: Maxum was promised a large donation by a LARGE insurance company whose name is SORT of like a gardener (only more like a FARMER)… Maxum was going to install an organic garden at a local Montessori school, and then teach the kids how to garden, etc… The large insurance company backed out, but only after Maxum had promised the school the garden.
Ick. If you’re interested in helping replace those funds, just let me know. I’ll hook you up!
Lettuces, asparagus, red and yellow peppers, onion, tomatoes, green beans, broccolli, cauliflower, strawberry, lavender, kosmos and herbs!
Saturday morning on NPR I heard an author talking about his new book on growing up poor. I didn’t catch the name of the book or author, but I’ve emailed NPR to try to get it. When I have it, I’ll let you all know.
While I was searching for references to the interview, I came upon this list. Just read it. I’m not going to provide any commentary, except to say that I suspect more than one of my readers has BEEN THERE, are CLOSE to being there again, or need to REMEMBER what it is like to be there, and give someone a hand up.
ON BEING POOR
Being poor is knowing exactly how much everything costs.
Being poor is getting angry at your kids for asking for all the crap they see on TV.
Being poor is having to keep buying $800 cars because they’re what you can afford, and then having the cars break down on you, because there’s not an $800 car in America that’s worth a damn.
Being poor is hoping the toothache goes away.
Being poor is knowing your kid goes to friends’ houses but never has friends over to yours.
Being poor is going to the restroom before you get in the school lunch line so your friends will be ahead of you and won’t hear you say “I get free lunch” when you get to the cashier.
Being poor is living next to the freeway.
Being poor is coming back to the car with your children in the back seat, clutching that box of Raisin Bran you just bought and trying to think of a way to make the kids understand that the box has to last.
Being poor is wondering if your well-off sibling is lying when he says he doesn’t mind when you ask for help.
Being poor is off-brand toys.
Being poor is a heater in only one room of the house.
Being poor is knowing you can’t leave $5 on the coffee table when your friends are around.
Being poor is hoping your kids don’t have a growth spurt.
Being poor is stealing meat from the store, frying it up before your mom gets home and then telling her she doesn’t have make dinner tonight because you’re not hungry anyway.
Being poor is Goodwill underwear.
Being poor is not enough space for everyone who lives with you.
Being poor is feeling the glued soles tear off your supermarket shoes when you run around the playground.
Being poor is your kid’s school being the one with the 15-year-old textbooks and no air conditioning.
Being poor is thinking $8 an hour is a really good deal.
Being poor is relying on people who don’t give a damn about you.
Being poor is an overnight shift under florescent lights.
Being poor is finding the letter your mom wrote to your dad, begging him for the child support.
Being poor is a bathtub you have to empty into the toilet.
Being poor is stopping the car to take a lamp from a stranger’s trash.
Being poor is making lunch for your kid when a cockroach skitters over the bread, and you looking over to see if your kid saw.
Being poor is believing a GED actually makes a goddamned difference.
Being poor is people angry at you just for walking around in the mall.
Being poor is not taking the job because you can’t find someone you trust to watch your kids.
Being poor is the police busting into the apartment right next to yours.
Being poor is not talking to that girl because she’ll probably just laugh at your clothes.
Being poor is hoping you’ll be invited for dinner.
Being poor is a sidewalk with lots of brown glass on it.
Being poor is people thinking they know something about you by the way you talk.
Being poor is needing that 35-cent raise.
Being poor is your kid’s teacher assuming you don’t have any books in your home.
Being poor is six dollars short on the utility bill and no way to close the gap.
Being poor is crying when you drop the mac and cheese on the floor.
Being poor is knowing you work as hard as anyone, anywhere.
Being poor is people surprised to discover you’re not actually stupid.
Being poor is people surprised to discover you’re not actually lazy.
Being poor is a six-hour wait in an emergency room with a sick child asleep on your lap.
Being poor is never buying anything someone else hasn’t bought first.
Being poor is picking the 10 cent ramen instead of the 12 cent ramen because that’s two extra packages for every dollar.
Being poor is having to live with choices you didn’t know you made when you were 14 years old.
Being poor is getting tired of people wanting you to be grateful.
Being poor is knowing you’re being judged.
Being poor is a box of crayons and a $1 coloring book from a community center Santa.
Being poor is checking the coin return slot of every soda machine you go by.
Being poor is deciding that it’s all right to base a relationship on shelter.
Being poor is knowing you really shouldn’t spend that buck on a Lotto ticket.
Being poor is hoping the register lady will spot you the dime.
Being poor is feeling helpless when your child makes the same mistakes you did, and won’t listen to you beg them against doing so.
Being poor is a cough that doesn’t go away.
Being poor is making sure you don’t spill on the couch, just in case you have to give it back before the lease is up.
Being poor is a $200 paycheck advance from a company that takes $250 when the paycheck comes in.
Being poor is four years of night classes for an Associates of Art degree.
Being poor is a lumpy futon bed.
Being poor is knowing where the shelter is.
Being poor is people who have never been poor wondering why you choose to be so.
Being poor is knowing how hard it is to stop being poor.
Being poor is seeing how few options you have.
Being poor is running in place.
Being poor is people wondering why you didn’t leave.
It’s been too long since I’ve talked with all of you here at Not In Kansas. Lots happening around here. I hope you’ve had a Happy Easter season!
1. Be sure to check out Nila’s blog if you haven’t lately. The Spring 2009 header has just been released!
2. We have been working for sometime on our plan to take over the world. If you hang around Facebook, you might have seen my references to it. I can’t really tell you all about it yet, but suffice to say, we’re working HARD and have a lot of work todo still in order to accomplish our goals. Bob is working more hours than ever, and sooner rather than later, I will be cutting back my hours at the office in order to pursue these goals.
3. We are considering changing the name of Angie Meeker Designs to Azadi Creative. Azadi is a Kurdish word that means “freedom.” I’ve always like the way the word sounds, and seeing it written out just now, I think it looks strong, even in plain text. What do you think?
4. On a related website design note, I’ve been missing an entire avenue of income over the past few years – affiliate commissions. With GoDaddy, who is one of the two hosts I recommend, I can earn up over $100 for every hosting package I sell. I just worked with a client this afternoon, who is getting a FREE site from me in exchange for some gardening help, but he still had to purchase his website hosting. I made over $100 on his hosting, and all I had to do was get him to purchase what he already needed to purchase. Strange?! What have I been doing the past few years?!
Well, that’s all for right now. Sorry I don’t have any more exciting things to talk about than that, but like I said, we’ve been working hard at taking over the world.
I’ll give you an update as soon as I have one!
