My Poken in a park.

I am really excited to be reviewing the POKEN. I got my Pokens last week (thanks @pokengirl!) and since then I set them up (yay!) and I’ve been carrying them around with me telling people about them. So, my job here in this post is, basically, POKEN 101 and to let you know what I think about it.

WHAT is a POKEN?

• A poken is, in its essence, a digital business card. The poken is a small USB device that stores all of your social information – name, email, website, phone, address, AND social networks. When someone ELSE has a poken, you HIGH-4 them and the poken transfers all information – it’s a no mess, organized way to store contact information.

The Set-Up

• The poken is incredibly easy to set-up. Once you get your poken, you simply plug the USB end into your computer, and it prompts you to do the rest.
• Fill out all of your information and you’re ready to poken!

Poken to Poken

• The poken has a really cool attachment on it that allows you to easily carry it around.
• When you meet someone else with a poken, simply hold the pokens together (give them a HIGH-4!) and the information/data is transferred.
• There is an indicator light that lets you know if it worked (green is good!)

Storing Information

• Once you have other’s information, plug the poken back into your computer and all of the information is organized and stored.
• How awesome it that?

Why do I think the Poken is worthwhile? My reasons are THREE-FOLD:

1. No mess, no hassle organization of all of your contact’s information. I go to networking events ALL the time, and exchanging business cards can be overwhelming when you have collected a gazillion cards. I tend to lose them, or they get out of order, or I forget to put them in my database. My poken alleviates this problem!
2. I love being tech-savvy. If you’re like me and love fun, new gadgets… then you’ll love it. All your friends will be like, “Whoaaaa what’s that? I want one. COOOOOOL.” Okay, they probably won’t be like that. But you get my point.
3. They are real fancy. I won’t say they’re cute, because a man invented them and men use them all the time. But dudes, my poken is cute. I’m all about aesthetics… and this thing is sweet. (Love the technical language?)

Challenges

• When I first tried to set-up the poken, I couldn’t figure out how to set up the social networks. After a few more clicks, I was able to customize my sites. It was just unclear, but definitely not a problem.
• Not very many people poken… yet. The initial challenge when a new device comes out is that it takes a while to catch on. It is DEFINITELY catching on in the social media aficionado/geek/nerd/armadillo community, but it is still very new to the general public. A little patience and word of mouth will fix that.

Here is a video review of the poken which includes a REALLY sweet POKEN montage about 3/4 of the way through. I was pretty pumped about it.

If you have any questions about the poken let me know. I am excited to meet other people who poken so we, too, can HIGH-4!

Question: Do YOU poken?

Word.

I got to really thinking a lot this week. I have a post coming soon about education in general, but I wanted to really drive home this idea of educating YOURSELF. Especially with regards to social media (but honestly, this TIP can be applied to any topic or trade). Social media, as we all know, is changing every day. Three, even two years ago, people didn’t know what to think of social media, let alone understand it, implement it, and become an expert at it. That’s why I want to really emphasize how important it is to EDUCATE YOURSELF.

No matter how long you have been in your field, 10 minutes, 10 years, 10 centuries, you will never know everything. So take the time to go out and expand your horizons. Read a new blog this week, go to coffee with someone and learn more about what they do, attend a conference (Social Media Business Forum, anyone? I’ll be there!), go to a #Tweetup (DEEP FRIED #TriangleTweetup, anyone? I’ll be there!), or simply ask a question that you don’t know the answer to. It’s okay to ask questions. Trust me, as a former high school English teacher, I know that there ARE no dumb questions. It’s dumb to not ask if you don’t know. Ah, You get my point. Learn from someone else. Know that you don’t know.

So go out there, learn something new, and then share what you learned! Come back and comment on my blog and tell me what you learned - because I want to learn from You!  Watch the video. Learn something. Then teach me!

All for now.

MINUS SOUND RESEARCH 4

I just wanted to take a moment to plug an AWESOME art show coming up THIS FRIDAY. Check it:

This FRIDAY, October 9th, Wootini enthusiastically welcomes MINUS SOUND RESEARCH back to the gallery for their fourth annual show! MINUS SOUND RESEARCH is an art exhibition of visual art created by North Carolina musicians. The masterminds behind MINUS SOUND RESEARCH, Maria Albani (Organos) and John Harrison (North Elementary) strive to provide musicians with opportunities to present their creative visions through sculpture, photography, drawings, serigraphy, woodwork, and painting.

MINUS SOUND RESEARCH 4 will include the work of six artists:

Strange bassist Lincoln Hancock says of his visual work, “My mixed-media paintings interrogate color-mystical hues from the grace of nature, the artifice of advertising, and plastic graphic language.” Selections of Hancock’s music are available on Strange’s websitehttp://www.myspace.com/strange.

One of the two sound artists behind Phon, Drew Robertson also creates mixed media work. Robertson’s visual focus, however, is on sound, and how we interact with it. Robertson’s sounds can be heard at http://www.phonpage.com.

Maria Albani is co-curator of this exhibition and one-woman force powering her solo project, Organos. Albani uses paste,l chalks, and acrylic paints to create portraits and scenes of sprightly, often otherworldly beings. Sample Organos by visiting http://www.myspace.com/organos.

John Kurtz provides guitar, piano, and vocals for Bull City. He’s also created visual documents of the lives of animals in ceramic and mixed mediai. Bull City’s online home ishttp://www.bullcitytheband.com.

Mas Sato, bassist for The Sames, focuses on simple and sturdy design objects. His work fuses traditional Japanese aesthetics with modern fabrication and production techniques. A new project lives on at The Sames’ old site:
http://www.reverbnation.com/thesames

John Harrison is the second co-curator of the show, as well as a member of North Elementary. Harrison creates unique compositions through the use of acrylic and spray paints, in tandem with silk screening and stencils. North Elementary provides music for your listening pleasure athttp://www.northelementary.com.

Laird Dixon of Sharkquest has sculpted many figures thoughout his life which can be found as many resin pieces, dioramas, and chess sets (such as the chess set at the OCSC).

Where: WOOTINI GALLERY, Carr Mill Mall, Carrboro, NC

When: Friday, October 9th, 2009. 7PM-11PM (the opening, the show will run into November)

How much: FREE (unless, of course, you want to buy some awesome art)

Questions? Email me: molly@wootini.com

I’ll see you at the opening!

All for now.

This past weekend, I was reminded why philanthropic work is so important and why I am so passionate about volunteering as much as you can. (I swear, everything you are about to read has a point… I promise ).

When I was in college, I had the honor of being a part of Phi Mu Fraternity, a women’s social sorority. I didn’t fit in to the typical “sorority girl” stereotype. I played golf, was really into sports, most of my friends were guys, and I didn’t really even know how to put on makeup. Now, a lot of that has changed over the years, but I’m still very much the Molly that I was when I pledged in college. Was really drew me to joining Phi Mu was all the work that Phi Mu did for the community — especially the Children’s Miracle Network (which is also why I have a CMN fundraiser here on my blog –> to the right!). Having been out of college for a few years, I have had the opportunity to stay connected with Phi Mu and am now volunteering my time with the UNC Chapel Hill chapter here in Chapel Hill, NC. The collegiate chapter was in the midst of recruitment this weekend and listening to the girls talk about all they have done in the last few years — it really reemphasized the importance of the work that so many organizations do. It really made me miss my college days, too. So, after thinking more and more about this idea of giving back, which is of course, not a new idea, I thought about how I can incorporate all of that even more into my professional life.

Since I started my business in the realm of blogging, writing, and social media marketing, I have really come to know the importance of acting and exhibiting integrity, honesty, and credibility at all times. Many of the nonprofit organizations I have done work for in the past, taught me a lot of that. I have set myself a goal that I want to volunteer my services to philanthropic causes and work to help organizations that help others.

I challenge you: how do YOU give back? How do YOU work to make things better for others? It just takes a little bit.

Today’s post was short, and may be a little haphazard, but hopefully you get my point. What do YOU think?

He’s phony, she’s fake
That’s the type of people I hate
If you real and you know it clap your hands [clap clap]
If you real and you know it clap your hands [clap clap]

-Jadakiss “Who’s Real”

Alright, the lyrics to the above song speak to my thoughts for today. It’s not the best song in the world, but it’s true.

As I work to expand my brand and forge new relationships, I seem to have started fighting this civil war within me. A battle between the organized, visionary, professional Molly and the fun-loving, outgoing, spunky, comedian Molly. I felt for the longest time that I had to keep the two parts of me completely separate. That I couldn’t let both Molly’s meet each other — it was like I was cheating on one side of myself with the other. And then I realized that I wasn’t happy. I felt that when I was being one Molly and pushing back the other, that I wasn’t being myself, or that I was being a phony version of myself.

This made me  realize a few things:

1. If I’m not truly happy or comfortable with a certain part of myself, then everything else that I interact with will be affected.
2. If I’m not showing my true self to my clients or people that I network with, then I am cheating them.
3. People can see through the phony — I only want to be seen as an authentic, honest version of myself.
4. One-sided Molly is BORING.

Finally, I realized that both sides of my personality are what make me unique. Why should I try to hide or stifle one aspect because I think that someone won’t like it, or won’t accept it, or will judge it? So I came to terms with this idea of: If I’m being the best and most honest version of myself at all times, and I’m happy with it, why won’t others accept me for who I am? The quality of my work won’t be affected. In fact, if I’m happy being the 100% version of myself – spunky + professional side and all, then you know what, the quality of my work will probably IMPROVE. Clients and those that I am working with or for will know that they have my full attention and that they are working with some one who is dedicated to her purpose and her visions.

As I fought all of this within me, someone gave me a copy of an excerpt from Gary Vaynerchuk’s new book “CRUSH IT” - and the chapter was on authenticity and being real. Every word in that chapter spoke to exactly the battle I was fighting within myself — worrying what other people will think. And it only emphasized what I felt: I cannot be anything other than 100% myself, or else I will eventually get frustrated, disheartened, and lose interest in what I’m doing and what I’m working towards. This forced me to write down facts about myself to put it into a more visual and “out-there” perspective. Here’s what I came up with:

Here are the FACTS about me:

1. I’m 24.
2. I’m a professional.
3. I am smart.
4. I am driven.
5. I am visionary.
6. I am successful.
7. I have worked for big names and startups.
8. I often change clothes more than twice a day.
9. I volunteer.
10. I am spunky.
11. I love my dog.
12. I often enjoy mindless television.
13. I love rap music [note: the Jadakiss lyrics at the top of this entry]
14. I LOVE Chipotle & Diet Coke.
15. I am an improviser and a comedian.
16. I love to break into dance in the car.
17. I am a writer.
18. I am a teacher.
19. I am honest and authentic.
20. But most of all, I get the MOST joy out of making people LAUGH & SMILE.

What I do in both the comedy world and the social media world is work to make something better. Whether it be making someone’s day better or improving the presence of someone’s brand. In the end, both sides of “Molly” are working to make a positive impact. And I love that. By accepting who I am and embracing all sides of my personality, I am able to serve others to the best of my ability.

Therefore, I’ve come up with a term for what I am: a SOCIAL COMEDIAN. I put the media in comedian. Get it? You see? OK, I thought of that at like 3AM. I think it’s clever.

What are your thoughts on authenticity and being real in both your personal and business life?

[Below is a visual example of what I'm talking about.]

With Governor Timothy M. Kaine

That SAME day. AFTER meeting with Governor Timothy M. Kaine.

Same day. Same Molly. Both equally awesome.

All for now.

I’m sure most of you Social Media geeks (no offense, I am TOTALLY a social media geek) have already seen this. I just thought I would share it on my blog. A lot of clients I work with wonder about how important social media REALLY is, or is it truly worth it to invest in something like social media. It is. And this video demonstrates a lot of the information that I have been preaching for a while.

What I love about social media is that it is ALWAYS changing. There is always something new and exciting happening. And I am never going to stop learning. I think that’s awesome. So, here it is… the SOCIAL MEDIA revolution.

All for now.

haustalk is a design forum that enables all citizens of Richmond to have an open dialog to discuss how design can be used to strengthen and improve the greater Richmond community. All business professionals, community leaders, students and teachers, activist, artist, and designers are encouraged to learn from each other. The discussion is a platform to persuade citizens to become more socially conscious and to take action to help Richmond move forward into the future.

Where: Gallery 5
200 W. Marshall St.
Richmond, Virginia 23220
Phone: 804 644-0005
Email: gallery5@gallery5arts.org

Wednesday, 29th of July
Gallery5, 7:00 PM
Networking EVENT: Making Sense of Social Media Marketing: Learn Tips on How To Use Social Media More Effectively.

Featuring:
Molly Buckley (that’s me!)
Writer, Editor, Social Media Consultant

Need more details? Please visit Thinkhaus’ newsletter: thinkhausdesign.com/inhaus/inhaus.html

It’s here. Oh man, am I excited or what?! I am honored to be teaming up with John O’Neill from Thinkhaus design for this seminar. It’s going to be awesome. John and I have been working on ironing out the details of this event to make it as incredible, informative, and fun as possible for the past two months and we are pumped to finally roll it out. If you have questions, feel free to email me ANYTIME or let me know. (mollybuckley [at] yahoo [dot] com -or- BEsocialworkshop [at] gmail [dot] com)

Also, if you are thinking about the workshop, but you’re saying to yourself, “I don’t know, I’m not sure if it’s going to be worth my time.” Then you NEED to come to the FREE haustalk event sponsored by Thinkhaus on Wednesday, July 29th at 7pm at Gallery5 in Richmond, Va. Check the Facebook event for that HERE. I will be presenting at this event talking about my experiences and giving a “preview” into what the workshop is going to feature. It’s also going to be a great opportunity for people to meet and network with other individuals, businesses, and non-profit organizations.  Tell your friends. Tell your enemies. Tell everyone. See you there!

++++

The besocial, bemarketable, bebranded seminar, presented by Thinkhaus and Molly Buckley, is geared towards taking away that uneasiness which is associated with the unfamiliar realm of social media and branding by presenting new, exciting, and innovative techniques in a fun and interactive way.

Participants will learn better communication, unconditional positivity, and the interconnectivity between good branding and social media practices, more specifically the “Triumvirate” of social media: Twitter, Facebook, and the blogosphere. By seeing, hearing, and doing what works, participants will walk away with a concrete knowledge of how to implement good branding and social media techniques into their own businesses and lives to ultimately gain credibility, visibility, and sustainability among the global community.

Seminar Pricing (PRICES REDUCED!!!!)
BEFORE August 5th:

• $50 for ALL Non-Profit Organizations
• $75 for ALL individuals/businesses

AFTER August 5th:

• $75 for ALL Non-Profit Organizations
• $100 for ALL individuals/businesses

The three-hour workshop will highlight a variety of topics.

Topics covered include:

• Good branding (presented by Thinkhaus)
• How to incorporate socially conscious practices into your organization or business (presented by Thinkhaus)
• The “Triumvirate” of Social Media (presented by Molly Buckley) 

Facebook
• What exactly is Facebook?
• How to set your Facebook up to succeed at the highest level
• Advantages and benefits
• Drawbacks
• Do’s and Don’t’s

Twitter
• What exactly is Twitter?
• How to set Twitter up to succeed at the highest level
• Advantages and benefits
• Drawbacks
• Do’s and Don’ts

The blogosphere
• What exactly is blogging?
• Benefits of blogging
• “How often should I blog?”
• “What should I blog about?”
• “How long should my blog posts be?”
• How to promote and sustain your blog with solid readership
• Social networks that may benefit you!
• How ALL of these things work together.

Each participant will also walk away with a tangible packet of information that highlights all the information discussed on each of the topics covered in the workshop.

If you would like to register for the course, please email us at BEsocialworkshop@gmail.com with the FOLLOWING information:

• Name:
• Email:
• Contact Number:
• Company:
• Type of business:
• Are you a non-profit?:
• Experience with social media:

After we have received your email for pre-registration, you will receive an invoice via PayPalto pay for the workshop and to hold your place. Questions? Let us know. Email us at BEsocialworkshop@gmail.com.

On behalf of Thinkhaus and Molly Buckley, we thank you and we can’t wait to work with you!

Oh, and check out the new WORKSHOPS link right here on my webpage! http://mollybuckley.wordpress.com/socialmediaworkshops/