What to Broadcast in Viral Videos

I have been thinking about this viral videos idea. The advantage and drawback for me is no pitching the businesses I am involved with. On the other hand, that opens up a world of possibilities so it frees me too.

There are topics I am passionate about and would like to speak about globally:
financial literacy
money and money attitudes
surviving unemployment whole
balance between work and family
finding serenity in any circumstance
social networking joys and frustrations
volunteerism - tutoring, painting, building
travel nationally and internationally
books - reading and writing
joyous self-expression
building business skills
job vs entrepreneur

Of course, I have no clue what I am doing but that never stopped me before. Ha!

Social Networking (Web 2.0) for an Over 40

This social networking stuff is fascinating to me but, as one of the almost-50 set, I have a significant disadvantage over, say, a 10-year-old. I'm not really joking when I say that. Like any learning, the earlier you start, the easier it is. So, as usual, I ran to find a book, e-Riches by Scott Fox which was published in 2009 (because 2008 is antique already) and read it cover to cover twice. Anyone who knows me will not find that to be surprising. Think about Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, Tagged... you get the idea. By the way, I LOVE YouTube, although my first few videos were done stretching my arm out as far as I could reach and filming, so my head was the size of a watermelon in the viewfinder. Ha! The other drawback was that people kept walking behind me to be helpful, right through my film. Aargh!

The really challenging thing is that each social networking site comes with mostly unwritten community rules on top of the site rules and what's a woman to do. It's a little like threading a boat between ledges through shark-infested waters. No intention to offend or get grounded or eaten but the waters are muddy sometimes. I enjoy this though because I am passionately committed to opening conversations on particular topics and all these technologies give small and large people a compelling (sometimes) voice to express views. I tend to like informative, uplifting, educational or entertaining material although the presentation does not have to be polished up. Mine isn't. I don't actually mind spam but I also watch commercials to see how people's thoughts are trending so I'm a little odd. What a marvelous time to be alive...

Think Like A Millionaire

Since I was a child, I wanted to be a multimillionaire philanthropist but I'm not there yet. So I began speaking, "I am a multimillionaire philanthropist" before going to sleep and when I get up. Then I wondered what multimillionaires do and what they have and visualized that too. By this time, as you can imagine, I was having a GREAT time! I could really see it all. Try it...

NYC Conspiracy of Beards & Leonard Cohen Fans

Come hear this San Francisco a capella group sing Leonard Cohen original arrangements this weekend 4/3-4/4. My brother, Tim, will be! there and lots of friends and fans. It will be a fantastic good time. Enjoy

NYC Marathon 2008

Out on the fire escape in El Barrio (110th Street) at the 19th mile, the shouting begins as the first runners, the women come by. We watch on TV as they get closer and then I climb out on the fire escape with my bare feet cold on the metal slats and my camera in my hand, and look down First Avenue. The sirens sound as the escorting cars approach in a V-shape. The shadows are so long and dark that each runner looks like two, legs spinning so fast they look like the spokes of a bicycle. I took this photo of the frontrunners but, by the time the camera focused and clicked, the lead runner's upper body was out of the frame. Ooops! What an incredible feat to do a run like that! So many thousands after the first ones just run for some reason I don't understand, just to finish, to keep a promise to themselves. I couldn't do it myself. That isn't where my passion lies but certainly it shows what people can do if their passion and commitment are engaged and there are things, people and causes I DO CARE ABOUT that much. YES!