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,…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…