Articles

Speaker Sneak Peak

The Des Moines 140 Character Conference is May 9.  I wanted to give you a sneak peek of just a few of our speakers.  (Stay tuned, we’ll feature them all before it’s done!) David Murray For the last 3 years I’ve seen the Midwest take great strides in redefining itself. Having lived in Minnesota, Wisconsin,…

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Another Time Saving Tool from Google

I love my Google Reader. I’m sitting here with tears streaming down my face, because I read this article by Kyle Munson.  Kyle has the enviable job of writing about the stories of Iowa.  I met him when he came to Hampton to do a follow up story about our Band Shell.  I added the…

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You Don’t Have to be Boring

I attend a lot of conferences, meetings, and events.  I see many  presentations.  Most are just okay.  Some are awful.  Once in a blue moon I see spectacular ones. Here’s a few don’ts from a seasoned observer. DON’T ..ever apologize for anything.  We don’t care that you are sorry the projector is not working, or…

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Dreaming of Scotland

When I was a young girl, I dreamt of walking the moors on an English coast somewhere, following my Heathcliff.  My coat would be a cape that went to the ground and fastened only with a big brass button.  My hair would be flowing free in the wind, the view bringing tears to my eyes.…

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Q and A with Debworks

Q and A with Deb Brown Why did you leave corporate America in the first place? I had a job as an insurance underwriting assistant.  While I was very good at it, I detested working in a cubicle 29 floors above the ground.  It’s important that I have interaction with people – and I wasn’t…

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Monster Barbies Rule

I was at a Hailey’s birthday party today.  She’s four.  She got a lot of presents.  Three of them were Monster Barbies.  The boys at the party played with the Monster Barbies.  One of the adult boys asked Steven, the 6 year old, why he was playing with Barbies. Steven answered “You don’t know why…

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All Over the Place

A book: I’m currently reading The Florist’s Daughter by Patricia Hampfl.  Her paragraphs are better than poetry.  Here’s one: The Midwest. The flyover, where even the towns have fled to the margins, groceries warehoused in Wal-Marts hugging the freeways, the red barns of family farms sagging, dismantled and sold as “distressed” wood for McMansion kitchens,…

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Facebook PhotoStrip Can Be Fun!

I love #blogchat! Every Sunday night at 8 p.m. Central on twitter a group of bloggers get together and talk about a particular subject. (I use www.tweetchat.com to follow the hashtag #blogchat) Last night we talked about Facebook versus Blog for businesses.  I think it was a draw. Today I went into my twitter mention…

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Change is Good

It’s no big secret – change is good. Now a lot of people don’t like change.  I think they’re just looking at it the wrong way. Change has many definitions.  Here’s just a few: to pass gradually into (spring into summer) to pass from one phase into another anything that is or can be substituted…

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We’re having a concert in Hampton

We’re having a concert in Hampton March 12. Not just any concert though.  It’s the Simon Estes Young Performing Artist Concert and Residency.  That’s a mouthful.  Here’s what it means. 2 college graduates with degrees in some form of fine arts will come to Hampton on Friday.  They’ll perform and hang out with the kids…

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