Have you discovered Pinterest yet?  The website describes it very simply: it’s an online pinboard that lets you organize the things you love.  I discovered it through, Cynthia Gagen, blogging friend of mine that blogs about crafts (actually, she blogs about a whole lot more) .  She uses Pinterest to capture images of crafts she’s made, crafts she likes and to display crafts by others.  You can find her awesome boards here and her even better blog here.

The same goes for my organizing buddies.  There is not a day that goes by that a professional organizers doesn’t pin something on the Organizing Ideas group board:

As you can see, this is a way of capturing pictures from every possible source: website, blogs, uploaded pics…etc. so that you can then group them together and create a virtual pin board.  This is a fun and easy way of capturing your favourite images without having to bookmark each individual webpage. 

The key is to be sure to give credit where credit is due. Thank the source (even if they were not the original person that pinned the picture).  If you can, try and go to the original source (especially if it is a photograph from a blog and was taken by the blogger). Then the ‘pin’ will have a direct link to the picture.

Other then that, have fun, get inspired and pin away…

Here is my board so follow me if you must…

As I am currently experimenting with all things Pinterest, I thought it would be interesting to create a Pin Board that would encourage other bloggers to post pins to my newest board: Your Blog.  It is a yet another way to engage on social media using a visual pin board.  Please feel free to:

1. Follow me on Pinterest
2. Follow Your Blogs board
3. Encourage you to collaborate.  I will add you as a collaborator to this board or my other fun collaboration board – What Were They Thinkin’?

I will be writing a series of Pinterest posts coming up … so stay tuned…

As we get the New Year started, it is a good time to reflect on our goals, resolutions or definition of how we see ourselves or our company.

Last Tuesday evening, I participated in a Twitter chat/party at 9 pm {hashtag} #GetRealChat [if you don't know what that all means, you need to contact me and I will walk you through a Twitter chat...].

The chat topic was: What one word will define/inspire/motivate/challenge you for 2012?

You can have different words both your professional and personal life. The words thrown out were:

TEAM

EMPOWERMENT

COLLABORATION

RELENTLESS

PERSEVERANCE

ENERGY

PATIENCE

BALANCE

FAITH

My business word this year will be: EXECUTION

I thought this quote from world renowned cellist, Yo-Yo Ma summarized it well.

“The role of the musician is to go from concept to full execution. Put another way, it’s to go from understanding the content of something to really learning how to communicate it and make sure it’s well-received and lives in somebody else.” ~ Yo-Yo Ma

What is YOUR word for 2012?

My B-E-A-U-T-F-U-L Minister Prestige 2012

I have had a love for Quo Vadis planners since I worked at TELUS over 20 years ago.  My boss always had me order the same planner: the pocket size Quo Vadis IB Traveler. I could never understand how he could carry such a small agenda but I now realize everyone has their favourites and that was his.

My favourite has always been the ivory colour, silky-smooth paper of the Minister Prestige.  The Minister Prestige differs from its ‘cousin’ the Minister Weekly planner in the colour of the paper (ivory vs. bright white) and the layout of the week.  [Side Note: Have you ever fallen in love with paper? Yes, I said paper... the thing is Quo Vadis has this way of producing this ivory colour paper that is smooth as silk and a joy to write on.  I love touching it...o.k. this is starting to sound silly  obsessive zany. However, if you don't know what I am talking about, you need to read the write up on the Quo Vadis Website on what makes it so special.  I think it is because it comes from France and the French are so particular about the paper and pens that they use. I mean Mont Blanc fountain pens are from France for goodness sake ~ that is a whole other blog post.]

Now what makes these planners so special to me:

1. The days begin Monday thru Friday with the weekends on the end.  My ‘Margarita suggestion’ is that I wish Saturday and Sunday had equal space but then you would have to give up other details.
2. There is a tear away in the corner making it easy to bookmark where you are in your agenda.
3. I like ability to write notes, email addresses, or memos throughout the week.
4. The paper is oh so silky smooth…uh…yeah…uh… I think I have already said that ♥
5. Mini-calendars for the previous, current and future months for quick reference.  My second ‘Margarita suggestion’ is the addition of a full month-in-review-2 page-layout at the beginning of every month with a tab starting every month.
6. There is a full year-in-review at the beginning of the planner but I find it cumbersome going back and forth between the current week & the beginning of the planner.
7. I like to write down & track receipts/payments and Quo Vadis provides this record keeping tool in every planner.
8. I LOVE the world maps.  I have to say, I like to look at them and see where different cities & capitals are in the US, Europe and Asia (because I am Canadian).
9. I like all the international phone numbers at the front.  That is not to say that I will call many people in Burma or Papau New Guinea but I could call one of my readers in Russia, Italy, France or New Zealand…yes, I have readers that live in those far away places.

I love my planner…I mean…Look how pretty it is….I love the turquoise leather-grain-like cover. It is stylish and the best part is next year, all I need to do is get the refill… Humm…Then again, maybe I will get a Trinote instead…in Cactus Green…oh…its soooooooo pretty.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Mont Blanc, Product Review, Quo Vadis Canada ]]> http://4linkedlearning.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/quovadis-canada-minister-prestige-product-review/feed/ 2 4linkedlearning QuoVadisCanada_Minister_Prestige http://4linkedlearning.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/black-friday-shopping-at-the-oak-brook-il-chicago-microsoft-store/ http://4linkedlearning.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/black-friday-shopping-at-the-oak-brook-il-chicago-microsoft-store/#comments Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:21:28 +0000 4linkedlearning http://4linkedlearning.wordpress.com/?p=367 ]]> So on most Tuesday afternoons at 3 pm EST I find myself glued to my computer. Why you ask? Because that’s the time I hop on Twitter and chat with other Windows enthusiasts and the different Windows Teams at Microsoft at the #win7tech twitter parties!

Microsoft Store - Oak Brook, IL

The hostess of #win7tech is Kristina Libby (you can follow her on twitter). She helps us navigate the world of Windows. On any given Tuesday afternoon she will introduce us to various products (hardware, software, gaming systems, and accessories), services or platforms supported by Microsoft. We’ve discuss Internet Explorer, Windows Live Writer, Windows Live Messenger and recently the new Microsoft Store.

Join @Windows Twitter parties with #win7tech hashtags – Tuesdays at 3 pm EST.

At one of the #win7tech session, we talked all about the expansion of the Microsoft mortar and brick stores across the US. As part of this fun interactive twitter chat, we were asked to find and name the location of a few of the stores. So, I go to the link they provided, I look at the website and tweet back some of the locations: San Diego, CA, Oak Brook, IL, Bellevue, WA, and Houston, TX. They all seemed so very far from me but I never imagined that I would find myself in the Oak Brook, IL store a few weeks later!

When doing some research for this post I found out that Microsoft has been opening new locations at a break-neck speed, opening 11 stores in the last 18 months[i]. There are 13 stores now opened and I am SURE more are in the works.

Superstar Joseph Adams, Allison & Melissa

On a road trip to Chicago, I found myself with Melissa Lierman and Allison Graham cruising the Microsoft Store. Melissa & Allison were in a bit of a bind and needed some computing power fast. When Allison’s computer crashed and Melissa needed a faster machine to keep up with her lightning-speed-fingers, we found ourselves getting a personalized tour of the Oak Brook store just outside of Chicago.Much to our relief, Store Manager, Joseph Adams, helped us navigate the very overwhelming choices that we could find at the store. As Melissa & Allison tested out all sort of models, I had the chance to look throughout the store.

Here is some of what I saw:

Ever changing Digital Wall @Microsoft Store

There is an ever changing digital wall with great graphics that span the length of the store and was seasonally decorated. [I took this picture just for my kids (obviously, we were there just before Halloween)]. The store’s layout had different sections for different products: a full interactive drive-before-you-buy Kinect XBOX 360 play area for gamers, families and kids.You have to love that they not only encourage you to look but to play as well so that you will be happy with your purchase. If you are shopping Black Friday – or any day really – make sure and check out their fantastic FaceBook page for some great deals :0)

As I continued my tour, I noticed that there was a quieter area where you can sit and just take in the ‘movie’ or ‘gaming’ experience. It is laid out like a living room with comfy club chairs, a coffee table and a big screen TV. I love the title: Experience the Possibilities. That is what this visit to the Microsoft Store was: an EXPEREIENCE.

Awesome Accessories for Dell Computers

Another section was dedicated to a variety of tablets and accessories for your computers. Honestly, if you don’t see this as a kid in a candy store for adults you must be delusional!

Book a Training Session or Personal Shopping Appt.

Joseph, our ‘lifesaver’ and Assistant Manager, was so very helpful but that is the standard at the Microsoft Store. All the technical sales professionals were fantastic at asking all the right questions to determine what would be a good fit. Joseph took the time to show us the options but steered us away from systems that would were either inadequate in one instance or over-kill in another. I found out that one very cool customer service is that you can schedule a personal shopping appointment so you too can have one-on-one attention from a sales associate. If you have a problem, you can also make an appointment either on-line or when you walk in the store and a trained technician will help you figure it out – how cool is that?

Huge Screens to help you navigate everything

Moral of this story: Visit a Microsoft Store close to you; make an appointment or just walk in and TRY EVERYTHING what have you got to lose?

[i] Tyson Corners, VA (Washington,DC area), Santa Clara, CA, Seattle, WA, Century City (LA), CA, Houston, TX, Atlanta, GA, , Costa Mesa, CA, Bellevue, WA, Bloomfield, MN, Oak Brooks (Chicago), IL, San Diego, CA, Lone Tree (Denver), CO + Mission Viejo, CA & Scottsdale, AZ

Note: All pictures are owned & copy-write protected and cannot be used without the expressed-written approval of Margarita Ibbott. No part of this blog post can be copied without approval.

The fun begins at #POC11

I am in Toronto attending the Professional Organizers in Canada Annual Conference. It is a great opportunity to meet-up with veteran organizers and organizers that are new to the industry.

In the tradition of meeting people IRL (in real life) I managed to organize an impromptu #tweet-up for the conference with the generous help of The Delta Chelsea (thanks to DC GM, Ron Pellegrine!).  We had a good turn out and fun was had by all!

Here are a few pictures from the conference so far:

Very excited to be returning to Harpo Studios this week to LiveBlog for Oprah’s LifeClasses.

Being able to participate in the classes and then follow them on-line throughout the week has been a great experience.

Follow my tweets DownshiftingPOS,   hashtag: #OprhasLifeClass at 8 pm on Mondays – Fridays for the next three weeks to learn more about those #wisewords from Oprah and her guests.

You might just learn a thing or two.

Details:

Oprah’s LifeClass can be see on the OWN – The Oprah Winfrey Network and OWNCanada at 8pm EST.

Follow her on Facebook at Oprah’s Life Class and participate LIVE on Facebook and Twitter.

One of the most discussed topics is how we can use social media platforms for good and not just for profit.  The thing is social media can always be used for good whether it is making a video and hoping it will go viral, tweeting out the video or posting the video to your Facebook page.  By ‘sharing’ a video you, too can play your part in raising both awareness and money.

It let me load my LinkedLearning blog. I could read the posts, create simple new posts, upload video, audio or pictures

Here I am writing a blog post from my smartphone. How cool is that? I have decided that I will load this post, regardless of formatting, font choices ,

underlines

or spacing.

I don’t know what you think but I think blogging on the go is pretty cool!

OK I just previewed the blog and the post looks a bit awkward. I will post it anyway because it is always fun to experiment with social media. I think I will have to work with the mobile version of WordPress a bit more but I am pretty happy that it is available.  Now if I can just find an app to update my Downshifting – Professional Organizing Solutions blog.

Are you ready to experiment?

The most beautiful view from Georges in La Jolla

Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

PodCamp London 2011

What is a PodCamp?

PodCamps are an open community for new and social media enthusiasts and professionals including bloggers, podcasters, social networkers, and anyone curious about new media to share and learn.

PodCamp isn’t just about podcasting! If you’re interested in blogging, social media, social networking, podcasting, video on the net

I had the privilege of presenting at PodCamp London this past weekend.  I say a privilege because it is not easy mustering up the courage to voluntarily present in front of your peers hoping they get value for their time.  PodCamp (for those not familiar with the format) is an un-conference wherein you sign up to present, you decide on a topic, you schedule yourself in a time slot and then you have 20-30 minutes to disseminate your message.  If the presentation is well received, you may want to do the presentation again or you may choose to do a completely different topic.  The choice is all yours.  The best part about this ‘unconference’ is:

The Law of Two Feet

Simply put: your experience at PodCamp is what you want it to be. At any time, if you’re not learning what you want to learn, if you’re not getting what you need, you have every right to depart the session you’re in and move to a different one, or none at all.

PodCamp is focused on all things new media and social media and is a grass-roots, community based event. This was the first year that I saw a decline in attendance and workshops (much to the disappointment of attendees).  Why did that happen? I am not really sure. Maybe people are not wanting to take the time to share their knowledge with their fellow Londoners… Maybe if it is not a paying gig it is not worth it to the presenter (I know one of last year’s presenters stated that it was just not his ‘target’ market).  Fortunately, I see things differently.  I see it as an opportunity to get people excited about actually using media (social or not). It is an opportunity to meet others that use new media both for personal and professional projects. It is an opportunity to meet “followers”, “fans”, “connections” IRL (in-real-life). It is an opportunity to help others understand why some of us are ‘so stoked’ about new and social media.

A prime example is a session I attended on being authentic in podcasting. It was great. It was a no-holds-bar session about how and why people just say what they want to say on a podcast.  There was an animated discussion on being authentic and being able to drop the f-bomb at will.  My thoughts are that I don’t have a problem with that if your podcast is for personal soapboxing but would be pressed to send out a podcast to my clients with that kind of language. The message from PodCamp: that’s OK. Say what you want to say, how you want to say it, just be true to yourself in your message.  Be not afraid.  It was funny that as I was leaving I came across the two presenters and I told them that using that sort of language would not go over with my clients.  He said, that’s OK just don’t listen to my podcast if it offends you.  I said something along the lines I can accept that as long as you don’t look down on me if I choose NOT to use that technique.  PodCamp: always a place to find interesting banter.

On the flip side, the highlight of my PodCamp experience was taking in what Voices.com CEO, David Ciccarelli, had to say about Facebook and its role in connecting with their clients.  His presenation on seeking 10,000 Facebook fans was full of golden nuggets of wisdom.  I have to admit, I will never miss an opportunity to hear either or David Ciccarelli or Stephanie Ciccarelli speak.  This presentation was a stark difference to the podcasting one because it discussed the application of social and new media for business.  Beating that drum myself, maybe the message resonates better with me because that is what I do – work with various social media platforms (FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs) for business.

Their illustrations of how to engage their readership by putting twits on contests and brand promotion/recognition was nothing short of brilliant (kudos, Stephanie).  The thing is, I am not in the business of hiring or being hired as voice over talent but that does not mean, I don’t like their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter - because I do. Speaking at PodCamp was not about Voices.com but about sharing the successes that they have had. [note: as I am about to publish this post, I got an email link to the cover story from Business London on Voices.com, read-it here]

So PodCamp is about listening and learning, engaging, teaching and finding out what people are using to express themselves, grow their business or create a presence in the world.  If you missed it, have no fear, those talented fellows that organize PodCamp also live-streamed the sessions, which means, it was recorded. So stay tuned and check in on the PodCamp London website to see the sessions you have missed.