#want to try making some bowls but i think id need different tools for that | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wastelesscrafts · 2 years

Note

I have a gardening tip for your followers! I love to garden but it is so expensive to get started. I repurpose old boxes and disposable/fast food cups as planters (just poke holes in the bottom for drainage and set them on top of a towel) and I made a small watering can out of a bottle with holes poked in the top. It works great because I don't need a massive watering can in my apartment. Gardening at home can be super cheap and easy!

[ID: a cardboard box that has been turned into a planter containing soil and seedlings. A plastic water bottle stands beside it and has holes poked in the top to serve as a watering can.]

Gardening and makeshift planters

Thank you for the tip! Gardening can seem quite daunting if you've never done it before, so asks like these are nice ways to show people it doesn't have to be all that complicated.

I wholeheartedly support DIY containers! Is that a cardboard box in your picture? Doesn't it get soggy? Or did you put in some kind of lining? Love your bottle watering can!

Gardening options:

Most people imagine a vegetable plot with annual plants and crop rotations when they think about gardening. This type of garden definitely has its merits, but it's not the only option. A garden can be as complex or as simple and as big or as small as you choose to make it.

[ID: a white bowl filled with small woodland strawberries. The bowl sits on a gray stone pathway next to a patch of wild strawberry plants.]

Backyard:

If you've got the luxury of having a garden in which you can do whatever you want without landlords watching over your shoulder, you're super lucky! There's so much good you could do!

Your garden can be a massive boon to your local biodiversity and wildlife. Even just planting native wildflowers or adding some wildlife garden elements will help. Make sure to look up local resources when planning a garden like this!

Your garden can also help to make your surroundings more comfortable. For example, trees and bushes will cool down their surroundings and can improve air quality. Gardening can even be used as a tool for carbon sequestration. And who doesn't like watching flowers bloom?

You could also try your hand at growing your own food. You could start a plot with kitchen herbs, grow a few vegetables or edible flowers, put in a few fruit bushes, and trade excesses with friends. Don't be fooled by Pinterest though, your chances of being able to live off your own produce are minimal.

Combine these different functions, if you can. For example: I've planted a wild strawberry patch in my garden. It functions as a ground cover and keeps my soil moist, provides me with the occasional snack, offers pollen to bees, and whatever berries I don't pick serve as food for the wildlife in my garden.

Keep things safe and easy:

Start out small! Don't get overwhelmed.

Figure out how much sun your plot gets before planting anything.

Use perennial plants instead of annuals if you have limited energy.

Trade seeds and seedlings with fellow gardeners, or learn how to propagate plants to keep costs down.

Look into lasagna gardening if you're unable to dig, or raised beds if you struggle with mobility.

Mulch your plots to save on water and weeding time.

Use localised information when planning your garden.

Avoid pesticides, especially if you plan to eat what you're growing.

Get your tetanus shots up to date, watch out for ticks, leave wild animals alone, and be careful if you have allergies.

Don't eat plants unless you're a 110% certain of what they are. Foraging can be fun, but you really don't want to mistake lilly of the valley for wild garlic.

Be mindful of your neighbours and housemates. Living near an allergen sucks, and certain plants can be dangerous to small children and pets.

Mint. Don't do it. It's a trap. It'll take over both your garden and your nightmares. Put it in a container if you really want to grow some.

If you've got a lot of space, you could look into permaculture or agroforestry.

Community plot:

Don't have a yard? Check if your neighbourhood has a community garden, or start one yourself. Shared gardens are a great way to get to know your neighbours.

Container garden:

If you don't have a lot of space, you could try container gardening. You can use pretty much anything to grow plants in as long as it's water tight, non-toxic, has drainage holes at the bottom, and is large enough for the type of plant you want to put in it. If you lack surface space, vertical gardens are also an option.

Note that container plants need more frequent watering and rely on you for nutrients.

The size of your garden project won't effect just how meaningful it can be. A native plant on a balcony can be an important spot for local birds or butterflies. The flowers in your vertical wall garden might be the only available pollen source in your neighbourhood. That potted basil on your window sill will give you a well-deserved sense of pride over keeping it alive every time you pick a few leaves for your pasta.

426 notes · View notes

kurtwarren54 · 5 years

Text

BEST OF BABY MONTH

JavaScript is currently disabled in this browser. Reactivate it to view this content.

I feel like I have so many friends either pregnant or with newborns at home and I literally live for sharing all my favorite baby finds. It can be SO overwhelming as a new mom knowing what things actually work, what you should register for and just what you should try next for your baby. We made it 1 year over here (YAY!) and excited to share that September is Best of Baby Month on walmart.com which means they are having some incredible savings on over 700 baby products online. It’s basically like Black Friday come early and it can be hard to sift through these savings as a first time parent. I went through and picked out some of my must haves that I have used from the newborn state to 1 year old. They often have next day shipping which is a MUST when you are shopping at 3am during those late night feedings and decide you need to try a new swaddle like RIGHT NOW. Mamas, I feel you. I was doing the same exact thing! Happy shopping Mamas.

BEST OF BABY SAVINGS

boon nurse baby bottle drying rack: I started out with the larger size boon drying rack and then also got this smaller version since I wanted to take up less space on my counter. Both are epic if you will be using any bottles or if you are pumping. I like having a separate place for all things baby to not mix it with our food items. This has free NextDay delivery and rollback pricing.

fisher-price cradle ’n swing with 6-speeds swing: This swing is a life saver. We had ours set up in our office and bedroom when he was older for some naps and a safe place to put him. It can swing in different directions which is a game changer since some babies prefer certain kinds of motion. Also the songs in it are great and Otis loved watching the mobile. Warning this takes up a big footprint but it was such a great resource for us when he was a newborn. Worth it in my opinion! It’s currently $127.90 and promo for $106.99!

baby breeze electric baby bottle sterilizer and dryer machine: Ok I never thought that I was even going to use this and honestly this was one of my favorite baby gadgets that really surprised me how much I used it. Such an easy way to sterilize my bottles and it also drys them which is a game changer. Honestly you have no time to brush your teeth let alone think about taking the time to sterilize your bottles so this device is 100% worth the counter space needed. Buy this sterilizer and get a $10 walmart gift card.

avanchy bamboo stay put suction baby bowl and spoon: I bought a few of these products because they are both chic and functional. The suction is essential when feeding a little baby that is going to inevitably throw their plate to the floor. Buy and safe $5.

hatch baby rest sound machine, night light + time-to-rise: One of my favorite devices in Otis’ nursery. It was epic in the newborn stage as well. We actually loved it so much we have 2 of them. 1 in his nursery and 1 in our bedroom. During the newborn phase it was both a great sound machine and night light during late night nursing. You can easily adjust the brightness and color of the nightlight so it’s easy on baby and mama’s eyes. Also I love that I can adjust or turn it on and off with an app. So now that Otis is older, if he happens to fall asleep on me while having his bottle, I can go into the app on my phone and steal mode turn on his sound machine before I place him in his crib. This is a GAME CHANGER. I am all about baby tech and this is a must have. Also, I don’t often find sound machines that are loud enough and this one is LOUD. Which is essential. This has rollback pricing and free delivery.

fisher-price deluxe kick & play removable piano gym: This is something Otis loved when he was starting to pull up on things. It was the perfect height for him and he is obsessed with the piano to this day. We now use the piano on its own and I use the pad in his nursery as a changing pad on the floor because… Toddler diaper changes are a wrestling match. This has rollback pricing and NextDay delivery.

pampers swaddlers: These were our favorite newborn diapers and you go through them like CRAZY. So this savings is epic. Buy 2, Get $20 gift card.

regalo 38” walk thru baby gate: Baby gates aren’t needed until baby is on the move but this is great to prep and have before that time comes so you can easily just set it up. Rollback pricing and free NextDay delivery.

lamaze clip & go fife the firefly: This is one of my hands down favorite toys for Otis. We used it during our physical therapy as a developmental tool. It makes noises and crinkles and it was a great motivator to help him learn to roll over and crawl. Rollback pricing and free NextDay delivery.

philips avent natural baby bottle newborn starter gift set: If you plan to use bottles, I recommenced getting a few different kinds because you never know what your baby is going to like. I bought these as an option and they are having a great savings on them. Rollback pricing and free NextDay delivery.

plums organics pouches: We love these pouches for when Otis started eating solids. Pick any 2 (6pk) and receive $2 off.

baby breeze formula pro advanced formula dispenser: So this is something I actually have sitting in my garage and never opened. But since I love my bottle sterilizer so much, I wanted to share this savings with you. I WISH I remembered I had in my garage because my friend has this and says it’s a total game changer if you are formula feeding. When you buy it, you get a $50 gift card to walmart.

Turn on your JavaScript to view content

This post is sponsored by Walmart. Big thank you for supporting all eat/sleep/wear collabs that help to support my family.

The post BEST OF BABY MONTH appeared first on eat.sleep.wear. - Fashion & Lifestyle Blog by Kimberly Lapides.

from Wellness https://www.eatsleepwear.com/2019/09/23/best-of-baby-month/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

0 notes

elizabethcariasa · 5 years

Text

BEST OF BABY MONTH

JavaScript is currently disabled in this browser. Reactivate it to view this content.

BEST OF BABY SAVINGS

pampers swaddlers: These were our favorite newborn diapers and you go through them like CRAZY. So this savings is epic. Buy 2, Get $20 gift card.

plums organics pouches: We love these pouches for when Otis started eating solids. Pick any 2 (6pk) and receive $2 off.

Turn on your JavaScript to view content

This post is sponsored by Walmart. Big thank you for supporting all eat/sleep/wear collabs that help to support my family.

The post BEST OF BABY MONTH appeared first on eat.sleep.wear. - Fashion & Lifestyle Blog by Kimberly Lapides.

0 notes

spiffylindster · 7 years

Text

Pi/e Day

Velma woke with a start when a loud crash sounded somewhere in the house, followed by a cacophony of clangs, clatters, and bangs. "What on earth?" she mumbled to herself as she grabbed her glasses off the nightstand and set off to investigate.

As she reached for her door, the unmistakable buzzing roar of a blender being turned on joined the chorus of noise assaulting her ears. Velma smiled; she'd solved the mystery before even making it to the hallway, and she didn't need an unmasking to know that only a certain tall lanky friend of hers along with his Great Dane were capable of creating that much commotion in the kitchen. But just what were they up to?

While it wasn't uncommon for Shaggy and Scooby to make breakfast for everyone, this level of constant noise was usually reserved for special occasions, holidays, or perish the thought, a new food making tactic Shaggy had dreamed up and dared to give the old college try. Velma briefly considered just going back to bed, but she was already up and curiosity got the best of her.

The noises grew louder as she emerged into the hallway and made her way toward the kitchen. Eventually, she could make out the voices of her two friends in the mix of sounds. She couldn't make out the specific words, but there was laughter, chatting, what was probably Shaggy giving Scooby instructions, and an occasional shout; most likely Shaggy trying to deter Scooby from stealing the food.

The kitchen came into view just in time for Velma to witness Shaggy, who was vigorously mixing something in a mixing bowl, bellow, "Scoobert Von Dooenheimer put those strawberries back on the counter!" Scooby grinned sheepishly as he returned the bowl of strawberries. Velma chuckled as she made her way to sit at the breakfast bar. As important as food was to Shaggy, he was pretty lax about guarding his own despite how often Scooby stole it, but when he was working on a large project and cooking for others, he went full on 'eyes in the back of his head' mode.

"Relma!" Scooby bounded over to her as she took a seat on a stool at the breakfast counter and stuck his head on her lap looking up at her, tail thumping away.

"Good morning Scooby" she smiled at him and scratched his ears as his eyes closed in doggy bliss.

Shaggy looked up from his work. "Like, mornin’ Velms!" he greeted brightly, with a small smear of flour across his cheek.

"Good morning Shaggy." she replied with a small giggle at his even more unkempt than usual appearance. She gazed around marveling both at the numerous projects he was working on, as well as the fact that said food projects somehow managed to turn him into a morning person. "What's the occasion?" she inquired gesturing to the chaos in the kitchen.

"Like, it's March 14th!" he answered exuberantly, turning away to mess with the blender and some other tasks.

Velma could practically hear her eyes roll. Shaggy's knack for answering things in the most obtuse way possible was uncanny. She was never really sure if he was oblivious to his ambiguousness, or if it was a form of humor, like when he and Scooby joked about Sweden, Australia, and kangaroos not being real just to irk Fred, as well as to pay homage to rock star Wulfric Von Rydingsvard from the band Wülfsmöøon, one of Shaggy's idols.

Still, as ambiguous as his answer was, it was an answer, and she reveled in a good puzzle, so she took the time to think through and attempt to solve it before pressing further. "March 14th? What holidays are in March? Well, there's St. Patrick's day, but St. Paddy's day isn't until the 17th so that isn't it. Hrm, Easter? No, that's not until April this year. The Ides of March isn't until tomorrow. Perhaps a famous birthday? Ah ha!”

"Are we celebrating Albert Einsteins' Birthday by chance?" Velma ventured.

Shaggy's brow furrowed slightly. "Today's Einstein's Birthday? Huh, well we can celebrate that too. Kind of fitting really." He shrugged slightly but didn't elaborate any further as he got caught up in trying to remove a stubborn lid from one of the food processors.

So, it wasn't Einstein, but Einstein was somehow relevant. "Let's see, March 14th, the 14th of March, the 3rd month on the 14th day, day 14 of the third month, 3-14, 314, 3-1-4". Suddenly all of the flour made sense. "Today's 3/14, like 3.14, it's pi day." she declared triumphantly. "I see you're taking advantage of homophones to celebrate it."

Shaggy looked up from his work with a bewildered expression on his face. "A homoawhat?"

"A homophone" she reiterated. "Two words that sound the same but have different spellings."

As he took in the information he set a cup of coffee before her, complete with a touch of cinamon and honey, just the way she liked it. "Right," he nodded. "like math pi, -p-i- and food pie, -p-i-e-. But, it like gets groovier than that, because, like, food pies are circles and math pi is like, used with circles!"

"Well, that's certainly true, but I don't think eating pie all day is going to work for the rest of us."

Pausing in his work, Shaggy cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "What? Why not?"

"I'm pretty sure you're the only human in this house capable of consuming mass quantities of sugar for an entire day. We'll have to figure out how to somehow incorporate math pi into some actual meals, or other activities."

Still looking confused, Shaggy tried to puzzle through what she was getting at. It clicked for him at about the same time a buzzer sounded. He grabbed a pair of oven mitts and turned toward the oven . "Well, like, there's all kinds of pies Velms, Cherry, Apple, Pumpkin, Blueberry, Strawberry Rhubarb, Banana Creme, Lemon Meringue, Pecan," he opened the oven and pulled out a dish turning toward her, "and egg pie, and later pizza pie, and turkey pot pie." he grinned triumphantly.

Taking a sip of her coffee, Velma smiled. Shaggy had a nice simplistic way about things that sometimes allowed him to see the more simple, obvious solutions to problems the rest of them would tend to over-complicate. Like that time Daphne had wanted to use the spiralizer on the kitchenaid to make zucchini noodles for the first time. But the zucchinis Fred had brought home were far too big for the machine to handle. She, Fred, and Daphne had stood around the machine trying to figure out a way to make it work. Eventually, Shaggy had walked in, and upon figuring out what was going on, he'd simply grabbed a zucchini, walked across the kitchen, opened a drawer, pulled out a peeling tool, and got to work.

"Hey Scoob, would you like, take this over to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson's?"

Scooby reluctantly pulled his head away from ear-scratching bliss. "Alright Raggy" he answered with a grin and trotted over to his human. Ear scratches from Velma aside, he was eager to help out his best buddy.

Velma watched with interest as Shaggy handed him a basket complete with a blueberry pie and ice-cream, which Scooby bounded out the door with. She furrowed her brow slightly. "Didn't the Johnson's move out of state to be closer to Mr. Johnson's mom when she started having health problems?"

With a face as guilty as a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar, Shaggy turned toward her, face lowered, but he met her eyes. "Ummm, yes?"

"Why are you sending pie and ice-cream over to a vacant house?"

"Umm like… well… umm… errr… like, y-you see, it's like… it's f-for someone else?" he winced.

Narrowing her eyes, Velma stared at him. "Who else would be in a vacant home?"

"N-nobody." he stammered

"So, you sent Scooby to deliver pie and ice-cream to nobody?"

"Kind of."

"Kind of?" Suddenly, comprehension dawned on her. "Shaggy Rogers, the Johnson's house is NOT haunted. We've been over this countless times. When BooBeard was haunting the Johnson's house way back when we were little kids, we caught him, and he wasn't a real ghost, it was their handyman Jack. There was no other ghost there. Be logical. How many more not real ghosts and monsters do we have to catch for you to accept that there's no such thing?" Velma demanded exasperatedly.

After the BooBeard case, Shaggy had been adamant that the Johnson's house was truly haunted by a friendly ghost, he seemed surprised and confused when, Scooby aside, the rest of the gang had rejected the claim despite his insistence that they had met the ghost too. The rest of them chalked it up to Shaggy's imagination or a very realistic dream, which Scooby either went along with because Shaggy was his best friend, or because he too was very imaginative, as well as gullible, and believed him. Mr. Boo, as Shaggy called him, was mostly dropped from conversation over time, but occasionally crept back up to the aggravation of the rest of the gang. And it wasn't just Mr. Boo, there had been other cases down the road where he'd mention something supernatural that had occurred, but it had become a rare occurrence, so either his imagination/dreams weren't having as much of an impact, or he'd simply learned to keep his mouth shut. Judging by the pie and ice-cream delivery, it was the latter.

"W-well like, it… it won't hurt to like bring it over just in case." he mumbled and turned back to his food projects.

With a sigh, Velma took another sip of coffee and tried to change her tone. "You know, I never saw a for sale sign up, I wonder if they donated the house and park to the city. If anything the park in particular has improved since they moved out." Shaggy simply shrugged in response, so she tried a more direct approach. "Why would a ghost want a blueberry pie and ice-cream anyways?'

With that he turned to look at her, and while it was clear he hadn't fully recouped from her recent verbal accost, a small smile tugged at his lips. "Oh, come on Velms, what ghost could possibly resist boo-berry pie and i-scream?"

Velma stared silently at him for a moment, before her eyes widened. 'It was a prank." she stated half to herself before bursting out laughing. "Jinkie's, you actually managed to prank me! Boo-berry pie and i-scream? That whole fiasco with Scooby and the Johnson's house, it was all for a pun!?" She waded up a napkin and threw it at him still laughing. "You'll pay for that Norville."

The napkin bounced harmlessly off his right arm as he sighed in relief. He'd somehow managed to be given an out so he might as well roll with it. He turned to Velma grinning. "I like, await your genius attempt at retribution." he challenged, bowing to her with a wink before returning to the various in progress pies.

At that moment Daphne walked into the room with a yawn and a stretch, she paused momentarily as she surveyed the various concoctions strewn throughout the kitchen before joining Velma at the breakfast counter. "What's the occasion?" she inquired to her friends.

Velma turned to Daphne with a sly smile. "It's March 14th".

Scooby had made it to the Johnson's former residence. With a practiced paw he turned a combination lock on the door handle which when opened exposed a key. Before unlocking the door and entering, he rang the doorbell using the old 'shave and a haircut, two bits' pattern so that Mr. Boo would know it was one of them.

Shaggy had stopped by over the years offering assistance to the Johnson's with a particular interest in helping them maintain the attached park area with a playground. It had been a source of joy and fond memories to him and his friends when they were young and he felt the younger generations deserved to experience those joys and memories as well. It was during such a visit that the couple broke the news that they felt compelled to relocate closer to Mr. Johnson's mom, but they were torn because they couldn't afford two mortgages. If they relocated they would have to sell, which they were reluctant to do as all previous parties who had expressed interest in purchasing their property had planned to have it demolished and rezoned for a restaurant or hotel. Shaggy had offered to buy it outright. There was no way he was going to let the home be demolished causing the loss of the playground and making Mr. Boo go *Poof*.

Shaggy's family was actually very financially well off. There was a reason he could easily donate a bunch of gems to an orphanage and a $10,000 prize to his distant cousin to help save her ranch; not to mention afford grocery bills for himself and Scooby. Underground, Scooby's doghouse at Ma and Pop Roger's put many houses to shame, Shaggy had a zillionaire uncle in the jewelry business, a billionaire uncle who practiced science, his family maintained a historical family castle in Austria complete with a full-time, live-in caretaker, and his family continued to maintain the original family homestead from the pioneer days. In short, arranging to purchase another residence was more than manageable. Despite his families wealth, Shaggy had been the first of the gang to get a job and Scooby knew Shaggy would willingly live in a hollow tree if he believed it was in everyone's best interest.

Having entered the home, Scooby placed the basket on a table as Mr. Boo floated down from the attic through the ceiling. "Rello" Scooby smiled.

"Oh, hello Scooby." Mr. Boo politely replied in his usual timid voice as he spied the basket on the table. "Oh boy, is that blueberry pie and ice-cream I see? Those have always been a favorite of mine. How nice of you and Shaggy to remember that."

#spiffy writes #scooby doo #shaggy rogers #velma dinkley #pi/e day #I rushed this so sorry if there are glaring mistakes #pi day #pie day #story time #3.14

364 notes · View notes

thereviewsarein · 4 years

Text

Kendra Kay‘s star is on the rise! The Manitoba Country Music Associations 2019 Female Artist of the Year and Fans’ Choice Artist of the Year has been putting in work on stage, in studio, and behind-the-scenes for years, and it’s time more of us noticed.

The first time we saw Kendra live was at Canadian Music Week 2017 in Toronto, when she was part of the opening lineup for Drake White (along with Alee, Kris Barclay, and Andrew Hyatt) at The Phoenix Concert Theatre. It feels like forever ago now, but that night we saw why she was already becoming one to watch, and we fully understand why she keeps making splashes as she releases new music and makes new fans.

We caught up with the Elkhorn, MN native for a Q&A and a round of 5 Quick Questions to learn a little more about her, about Steady, and about what might be coming next.

And while we didn’t ask any questions about playing halftime of the Banjo Bowl or when we’ll see her back in Toronto – trust us, those questions are on our list for next time.

Now, hit play to watch the official music video for Steady and check out the Kendra Kay Q&A and 5 Quick Questions video. Enjoy!

youtube

Kendra Kay Q&A

1) First, congratulations on the new single being released. How does it feel to have Steady out to the world?

KK) It feels amazing to have Steady out into the world! I have had this song in my pocket for a little while now and we really wanted to wait until the moment felt right to put it out, and with the circumstances in the world right now, we couldn’t think of a better time to share this one.

2) This song was created by a talented group of women from the writing to the production (Madeline Merlo, Victoria Banks, Karen Kosowski) to your performance – is there something special to you about an experience like this?

KK) This is so special to me. I look up to and truly respect what these 3 talented women are doing in the music industry. Women are making big waves in the country music scene and I am proud to be a part of it. Having this song written, produced, mixed and performed by all women really gave this song exactly what it needed, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we created.

3) We want to know a little bit more about the video for Steady – what can you tell us about the behind-the-scenes? Were there any challenges that came up or last minute ideas or fun stories?

KK) For the final/ending scene of the video, we were out in a barn, now me being an actual farm girl, I was right in my elements. The only thing that was a little bit different was the fact that I was in this tool, flowered, long white ball gown. As we started taping, I was on the ground of the barn singing into an old mic in front of a big, stacked high, pile of hay. The video crew was like, “It was be so cool to get you on top of that for some shots but how would we do that?” While they were thinking about how to make that work, I started chucking bales down and climbed right up the side of the haystack in that white ball gown – Can’t take the country out of this girl!

4) What can you tell us about what else is coming? Any hints or details about more new music?

KK) Well, new music is ALWAYS in the works around here. I can’t say a whole bunch yet about what things are about, but I am in the middle of working on a new project to get out for the world to hear!

#gallery-0-4 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-0-4 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

pc. Kris Galang

pc. Melanie VanHeyst

5) Last one for a little something extra, can you tell us all something that we wouldn’t find on your social channels or in a Google search, like a hidden talent maybe?

KK) I try to share a look into who I am and what I am all about with my fans. As you can see from my socials, aside from singing; I live a very active life out on the farm riding horses and helping with the cattle. In the summer when I am not on the road with music, you can find me at the rodeo and fairs with my horse. In the winter time, I still enjoy playing some rec hockey. As for a hidden talent, you’ll be the first to know if I ever find one!

Thank you to Kendra for taking the time to answer our questions (and for putting as the top of her contact list on that hidden talent thing). Hit play on her round of 5 Quick Questions now to learn a little more, like which legends she’d love to duet with, which album she can listen to front-to-back, and more!

5 Quick Questions with Kendra Kay

youtube

Steady, Kendra Kay Q&A and 5 Quick Questions Kendra Kay's star is on the rise! The Manitoba Country Music Associations 2019 Female Artist of the Year and Fans' Choice Artist of the Year has been putting in work on stage, in studio, and behind-the-scenes for years, and it's time more of us noticed.

0 notes

yesterdaysdreams · 6 years

Text

Tips for Decorating an Outdoor Living Space

When we first moved into this house last year, our inspector said we would definitely want to refinish or replace the deck soon. I didn’t even want to think about the deck, though, because there was so much to do inside! But when Article reached out to me to see if I was working on any outdoor projects this summer, I thought … hmmm … I could be! We’re really happy with the Article sofa that we used in our study makeover, so I knew we’d love their new outdoor furniture too.

Little did I know that a “simple” patio refinishing would turn into an entire overhaul of our outdoor space, giving me a brand new living space perfect for entertaining! All of our hard work seriously paid off, and the new furnishings and decorations truly are the cherry on top of our patio project.

This post is technically the “grand reveal” of our patio makeover project, but I wanted to specifically talk about how to decorate an outdoor space so that it truly feels like an extension of your home. Even if you start with something that looks like this unassuming patio below!

To recap, we pulled off the old lattice fencing, refinished the deck flooring, added a new slat wood privacy fence, and topped it off with a slat wood pergola. Obviously, the structural changes made a huge impact, as you can see below, but it was really all of the decorative accessories that made the patio feel cozy and welcoming.

Before Decorating

I began by selecting furnishings from Article’s outdoor collection. I wanted to keep things relatively low contrast so the space felt serene and let the great outdoors take center stage. So I chose the Calo sofa and chair in gray tones that also tied in with the fire pit I had purchased. The Medan lounge chairs add the casual beachy vibe of rattan, but with the durability of metal and synthetic wicker. I love that they’re easy to move around depending on how we’re entertaining out here! For the dining area, I maintained the gray and white color scheme with the Tavola dining table and Sala dining chairs. Article’s wood Tana stools bring a different wood tone into the arrangement and they’re the perfect size for holding snacks and drinks.

After Decorating

All of the furnishings felt cohesive and stylish in our new patio, but left as they were, the space felt dull and lifeless. I strategized how to best allocate my decorating budget towards items that would pack a big cozy punch, and came up with a few basic decorative techniques. I’m really happy with how the space was even further transformed with some decorative accessories!

Here’s one more before and after for those in the back:

Outdoor Decorating Ideas

1. Outdoor Area Rug Just like indoor rugs, outdoor rugs are helpful tools for visually grounding a seating area and giving furnishings a greater context. They provide a soft place for bare feet to rest, and definitely elevate the cozy vibes. But unlike indoor rugs, outdoor rugs are designed to withstand heavy foot traffic and weather. I use a broom to keep my outdoor rug clean, and from time to time hose it off if it gets muddy. I chose a dark color to ground the lighter furnishings and accessories, but also to hide dirt and debris.

2. Outdoor Pillows Pillows can add to the comfort of your seating areas, but also make the space look just as cozy as the living area inside your home. Outdoor pillows are usually filled with lightweight polyester stuffing and should be made from weather resilient fabric. Weather resilient doesn’t mean waterproof, but rather that they won’t fade as badly in the sun and will resist the retention of water, which would lead to mildew. My pillows do get a bit wet in the rain, but they dry super quickly! Some people choose to utilize deck boxes or storage benches to store pillows when not in use.

3. Outdoor Lighting I transformed an indoor pendant light into an outdoor light (more on that in a later post!), but there are plenty of options that are outdoor ready, like this weatherproof basket-style pendant light from Article. Make sure to pay attention to whether or not an outdoor light needs hardwired. It’s not impossible to run a conduit to your outdoor area if you have some kind of rod or beams overhead, but I chose to use a plug-in option because this project was already complicated enough without electrical work.

String lights are obviously a popular choice for outdoor areas, because they can be draped so easily and simply plug into outlets. I also noticed there are a lot of nice solar-powered light options on the market now too! Some are string lights, some pendants, while others are low or tall torch-style lights. Regardless of what type of light you feel is right for your space, lighting of any kind will add excellent atmosphere (plus visibility!) when the sun begins to set.

4. Outdoor Curtains At first, I thought outdoor curtains were a bit over-the-top. But when I looked at the long expanse of slats on our patio fence, I knew a curtain would be the perfect way to visually break it up! I’m so glad I went for it, because these curtains add a new level of sophistication—as though I reserved my own beach cabana for the day. (Minus the beach, that is. Minor detail.)

For the curtain rod, I purchased an extra long galvanized pipe from a local builder supply store. Most hardware stores only sell up to 10-feet long pipes, but I needed 14 feet to space the width of the porch. A 20-foot length cost about $70. Not cheap, but I wanted to avoid needing a middle support for the pipe. This way, I can easily pull both curtains to one side for optimal shade from the sun. The rod is secured with a basic closet rod support.

Make sure you buy curtains that are specifically intended for outdoor use, or mildew will become an issue. I tie back my curtains when not in use with a simple rope tie-back. When the weather turns too chilly to use this space, I’ll bring the curtains and rod inside for the winter.

5. Wall-Mounted Planters Since I didn’t have any outdoor-friendly art I wanted to use out here, I decided to utilize plants for vertical interest in the space. These planters are specifically made for wall mounting. They have mounting holes on the back, so I just used screws and nuts to hang them on my fence. I chose Silver Falls to fill my containers because they look so lovely and light as they spill down from the planter.

6. Tabletop Decor Table runners aren’t just for indoors! Adding this woven-reed runner is my favorite way to make outdoor dining feel more special. I don’t leave it out all of the time, but I’ll put out the runner and candles to make the space feel more special when we’re out there. Terrariums and planters are also great items you can leave out on your table all the time.

7. Potted Plants Tall plants help visually fill the space around the furniture, especially in corners and surrounding doorways. I chose to use tropical plants out here and have a bright sunroom where they will winter. I’ve learned that there are some evergreens that are hardy enough to survive in pots during an Ohio winter, but I was too nervous to try that this year! I do love the idea of using large box planters and tall evergreens to serve as divisions between spaces. Maybe that will be next summer’s project?

8. Fire Pits Rather than using an outdoor coffee table, we decided to buy a propane fire pit. We’ve been enjoying using it for s’mores so far, and soon I think it will really enhance the ambience of fall evenings out here! You can also buy mini propane and lava rock bowls for setting on coffee or dining tables. If you don’t have space for a large one like mine, you can buy taller side-table style fire pits too!

9. Umbrella and Awnings Obviously, shade is welcome in the summertime! But umbrellas and awnings also add another decorative layer to an outdoor area. I had considered using a retractable awning for the seating area of our patio, but the nice ones are so expensive! I settled on a tilting freestanding umbrella that I can move around depending on the sun’s location. Shade sails are a great idea too! You need spots to anchor the corners of the sail, but the shade they offer is really nice. I just love the charm of an umbrella, though!

I keep pinching myself every time I look through the door and see this cheerful space! Truly, I love our outdoor dining space much more than our indoor dining area now. I want to host all of the parties and do all of my work from the serenity of this table. It will be a sad day when winter comes.

I’m so grateful to Article for making it possible for me to create my dream outdoor living area. I hope our patio makeover has inspired you and shown you ways to give your own outdoor space some love! While it’s already August, now is the best time to get out there and buy outdoor items on sale! Let me know if you have any questions, and I’ll be sure to follow up in the comments below. – Mandi

Credits//Author and Photography: Mandi Johnson. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8265713 https://ift.tt/2MXriUT via IFTTT

#IFTTT #RSSMix.com Mix ID 8265713

0 notes

martechadvisor-blog · 6 years

Text

Has AI changed the way CMOs deliver customer experience? With Gary Miles, GM and CMO at Amdocs

Gary Miles, GM and CMO at Amdocs shares meaningful insights for CMOs to deliver a consistent brand experience along with pro-tips to ace the personalization game. According to Gary, design thinking and partnering with the CIO is a great way to approach the digital transformation challenge. In addition to being a tad obsessed with all things AI, Gary is a sports nut and enjoys everything from skiing, to tennis to squash.

Prefer to read the interview instead of watching the video? Scroll below for the transcript

Watching after all? It’s a 15-minute masterclass for marketers, but if you’re in a hurry, check out these memorable moments from Gary’s interview:

How will AI change the way CMOs deliver customer experience?

How can CMOs deliver a consistent brand experience to each customer?

How can non-tech savvy enterprises approach digital transformation?

How can B2B marketers act more like B2C marketers?

Who does the CMO need on the team to ace personalization?

What skills do young marketers need to thrive today?

CI: How will AI change the way CMOs deliver customer experience?

GM:

There's a lot of promises around AI. In reality, I think it's going to evolve over time and then maybe speed up really quickly and pass us but that's another conversation. The interesting thing about machine learning and AI is to get started. There's no perfect solution today, we know that when dealing with customers. AI is not very good when there's a complex set of questions or scenarios that need to be addressed and very quickly the consumer gets really frustrated and annoyed.

Where AI is coming into play right now is really pre-buying, like when they're shopping, to start to push things that others use, segmentation.

Things that other people like Chitra have liked - to start to push that and to help them find, help them browse. But when they start to actually make a purchase, at this point it may be best to put a human in front of that conversation instead of a robot.

Do it in a timely manner and then also to prompt the human with maybe some other things.

CX powered by AI is still about getting the balance between human and machine right

Ensure the transition from machine to human and back is smooth and at the right points

CMO’s should pick a few high impact areas to start with AI than trying to stretch it through the entire journey at once

CI: How can CMOs deliver a consistent brand experience to each customer?

GM:

Right, this is a great question. So, the seamless customer experience really is challenging because I've got my phone in my pocket that I'm maybe watching a video on the go; and then I want to transfer to pick it up at home. Maybe I've got my connected home which is provided by my service provider.

So, there's a concept called digital identity which gives you an ID that can be consistently used across a lot of different services. So, this is the place to start.

If you look at what's happened with the cable telephone, the cable operators in North America, for a long time they had less competition because they were generally providing cable services to one region only. And then suddenly, in America AT&T bought DirecTV or Time Warner and Netflix comes in and suddenly there's a lot of competition and the idea is to provide better customer service across all the channels. Well, the cable companies were dealing with systems where the subscriber identity was actually the address of the home for the last 30 years. It wasn't five sets of eyeballs in the home that are all looking to do different things at the same time, at different times, etc., with all kinds of different services.

So, digital identity is a very good place to start so that each family, the individuals in the family have an identity they can subscribe to video services, music services, communication services seamlessly, onboard them and run them across all the different touch points so that you don't have this very fragmented, disparate experience that can run.

The digital identity of every individual is the key to providing them the CX they want

CI: How can non-tech savvy enterprises approach digital transformation?

GM:

Right. So, digital transformation is really - there are two sides to a coin. One is of the customer facing experience. The good news about customer experience is, it’s pretty consistent across all industries. Humans in an interactive digital way have a set of expectations, simple. It's non-offensive, is not in your face, you're not rendering advertisements all the time, it's very consistent. So, if you do customer experience very well for the communications industry it should also apply to commerce and eBay or other things now. The backend systems are a different dilemma, right. So, if you also want to have a digital experience, it's not like you can put lipstick on the front and then have everything just look beautiful because if you don't have a centralized catalogue, the data that is between the different departments so you can know how to cross-sell and upsell and know where they have issues over here so you can address them effectively, then you're not really becoming a true digital service provider. So, **my first message to be a digital company is to automate and integrate the backend seamlessly.** And then on the front end there are two aspects also of this, one is the customer touch points.

There's a concept called design-led thinking where you really look at the reality of what the customer is experiencing maybe not what a good UI programmer thinks they should experience but really look at the reality of what they're experiencing.

So, this is one thing and the **second thing which is often put on a back burner is the screens for the care agents and the sales agents and everybody that's interfacing with them.** Because if this is like – ‘function 12 alt4 I've got it’ - if this isn't also a good customer experience, first of all, they're not going to be as happy at work, the information is not as readily available. So, this is something when you look at doing design-led thinking to improve your brand, I would encourage people to remember what's behind the brand front which is all the people that are working with it that also established the company as an effective customer-facing organization.

So, my advice to CMOs that want to drive a really sexy digital agenda is to find a partner in the CIO and establish a shared cognition and trust and objectives.

Because the CMO organization usually isn't outfitted with budget and people and remit to make sure that the backend is running in a super digital slick way to enable the customer experience. So, the relationship with the CIO is the place to start.

Digital transformation has two sides:

- The customer facing systems – examine the reality (not ideal) of what customers experience

- The backend systems – integrate and automate seamlessly

Thinking is a great tool to approach the challenge

The CIO is a crucial ally for CMOs in digital transformation

CI: How can B2B marketers act more like B2C marketers?

GM:

So, the trick for a very good B2B company is to understand the ‘C’ and to build services with the C in mind even though the C is not paying for those services directly. This is a hard thing to get right. So, what we really try to do is, we’re like a design partner with one of our business customers, where we'll design solutions for their end customers. So, we're in the business of scale. So, then we try to harden that and scale that through the rest of the world to other B2B sales models. And then we try to sex up our brand because B2B brands are not on the billboards and it's Super Bowl and all this stuff - some are but most of them aren't. So, then we try to really extend our brand to a B2B2C brand. As you said, we know those touch points that relate to those customers, **we help build the customer experiences that define the consumer experience globally and that becomes a pull.** So, businesses want to work with us because we're enabling that consumer experience as a world leader. That's the way we try, and I would recommend any B2B player to always take the adopt the consumer marketing into your own B2B marketing.

B2Bs need to understand the Cs – the consumers of their customers

B2Bs should function as B2B2C’s: build the customer experiences that define the consumer experiences

CI: Who does the CMO need on the team to ace personalization?

GM:

There's buying behavior patterns that exist in clusters and if you can nail those clusters then you can scale those. Now, which partners do you need? As I mentioned before,

You need the CIO because you're dealing with large amounts of data that you need to get into a place and it shouldn't be a data soup, right.

It should be data that you can actually make some sense out of. So, this is one part. I actually think having two or three data scientist partners that you split test, ‘go run this campaign and show me the results’ and you can actually segment five percent of your population for one, five percent for another and five percent for a third - and whichever one is working best you can scale that to the other 90%. And then I think you need a big vendor that understands the source systems well. **That's your partner that understands the data in those systems that can work with CIO, work with the data scientist, work with the machine learning systems - that you shouldn't try to replicate.** And bring these together from data to consumer to build the right segmentation, the right next best offer for next best action and right differentiator go to market. This is my recommendation.

Personalization is hard but not unachievable with a focus on clusters and patterns

The core team needs to be:

- CIO

- Data scientists

- A vendor that understands the tech and the marketing and can connect the dots to execute personalization at scale

CI: What skills do young marketers need to thrive today?

GM:

So, for the younger people out there, there's probably the majority. So,

First of all I think to be curious is the place to start.

Look there is someone I read Wikipedia at night, I mean not every night, believe me there are other things that I do but really and there's so much online video content and one thing leads to another one. So, I think this is one thing to be curious, to learn to consume. There is so much cool stuff out there. The other thing I would say for all marketeers - which is really I believe this to my core - is that

To be a really good marketer, you need to understand the details.

Because otherwise, you don't know how to position well enough against the competitors. It becomes more around the fluff. You need to understand the details on the back end, the details on the consumer side - what the reality is that they're experiencing. These are the two sides to get right - so continuous learning. Get into the details and really drive it. It's easy when you go to these big meetings and you have a review and the R&D people are talking about their stuff and then the finance people are talking about their stuff and then the delivery people are talking about their stuff, and then it gets to marketing and the marketing person, he puts the phone down, all excited and engages.

The people that go far in business are the ones that are paying attention.

All those other discussions trying to bring value and it's a different mindset and if you can nail that mindset, you're a curious person, you can learn, you can move around in the business fluid type of work environment, learn all the time and then you'll be a brilliant marketer, if that stuff comes naturally, you like it that's what I recommend.

Be curious and learn continuously

Pay attention!

Understand the ‘details’ of the backend and the ‘reality’ of the customer

This article was first appeared on MarTech Advisor

#martech #marketing #technology #business #cmo

0 notes

davewakeman · 6 years

Text

The Death of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is Overstated...

ThThere have been a number of articles about the downfall of the Chief Marketing Officer and how the role is one of the most unstable in business today.

It has become almost a fate accompli that the CMO is going to be someone that is not going to last long, won’t have any influence, and will be subservient to other members of the executive staff.

To that I call, “BS!”

About a year or so ago, I went to a keynote in DC given by a technology company CMO and I left aghast because the person stated that the biggest challenge he was facing was, “managing all the new tools” coming into the market.

I think you could audibly hear my jaw hit the floor because I was thinking that how could someone that is so driven by every shinning bauble be elevated to an executive position…but I think in looking at the current situation many CMOs and organizations are facing, chasing the new, shiny thing is what is leading many CMOs to fail in their roles and creating an environment where organizations aren’t getting the results they need from their marketing operations.

The answer to the challenge of the declining impact of the CMO, if it is a real story, is not to reduce the ability of the CMO to create change, but to rethink the role in a way that it can create revenue and opportunity for an organization.

Because at the end of the day, the role of the CMO is to deliver sales and impact for the organization.

Here’s a few ideas on how this can happen:

Focus on Outcomes:

The ill-fated keynote that I mentioned above is exhibit A in my case against CMOs because it highlights the challenge that most marketers are dealing with today: which is there is too much noise and the ability to cut through this noise is more difficult than ever before.

When you feel like your message isn’t getting through to your target market, the simplest solution might seem to be that you should just reach out to more people, in more places, with more messages.

But research and feedback from our customers tells us that this is the entirely wrong way to approach things.

In fact, if you try to inundate people with more…they tune you out.

That’s just reality.

The truth is that most organizations aren’t sure what they need their marketing to achieve without a proper frame. When this happens, the default often becomes to just do more and to chase the newest idea or newest technology solution.

Even if that doesn’t make sense.

The way to overcome this type of thinking is to focus on outcomes.

I’ve been using a pretty simple formula to ID marketing targets for the past few years:

What value do I want to create?

Who will buy it?

How do I reach them?

Marketing should be all about answering those questions.

This makes finding outcomes to point towards pretty easy.

You can measure your marketing with a number of outcomes leading the way:

Revenue

Meetings held

Opportunities created

Average sale

Sales from current clients

Referrals

Knowing what you are trying to achieve is going to help you calibrate your marketing a lot more effectively.

So, first, lead with outcomes.

Don’t Start Something You Aren’t Willing To Finish:

Marketing is about consistency in most cases.

How many half baked marketing campaigns have you seen?

Something where the organization starts an initiative, maybe is unclear about what they hope to achieve, don’t see the results that they might have thought they would get or are unclear about what results they are getting, and stop doing something.

If you focus on the outcomes you are trying to achieve, you should lessen the likelihood of abandoning a lot of good ideas.

But if you don’t, you are going to often start and stop marketing activities willy nilly.

Stopping ineffective marketing activities is a total plus.

Where I worry about your marketing activities is because if you don’t know where you are going, your constant sputtering can lead to a message to the market that you don’t know who you are or what you are trying to do.

It can also lead to a failing marketing department because you don’t have anyway of measuring progress.

My best suggestion here is to not try to do too much, but once you put something in place…you do give it the effort and resources to succeed or fail.

Embrace Creativity:

I read a nice little book yesterday called Difference by Bernadette Jiwa.

In Bernadette’s book, she talked about some of the ways that marketing has failed us over the last few years.

The root cause of it is that the failure of our marketing can be linked directly to the concept of measuring everything. Bernadette believes that for far too long our marketers have been led to believe that marketing is more science than art and it has sucked the humanity out of much of what we do.

I couldn’t agree more.

I’m on the record railing against the $12 Bud Light and I saw a $17 Bud Light at the Super Bowl.

To me, the $17 Bud Light is a stand-in for the commoditization of the marketing industry. If the numbers say we can do something, we should.

This leads to marketing and advertising that has a whiff of the same to it.

This leads to marketing and advertising that doesn’t feel magical like the first time you might have seen Max Headroom in the 1980s:

youtube

Or, how about the Mentos commercial if you are a child of the 90s?Thi

youtube

The list can go on, but instead we get a funhouse full of advertisements that are much the same, only different.

That won’t cut it in an oversaturated ad market and it won’t cut it when there is so much selection in the world.

To counteract this trend, we have to get back to being creative.

We need to embrace the unique and the way that we connect with the world.

Why is your product important?

What should you be remembered for?

If you are just trying to do more of the same for your organization, then it is no wonder the CMO role is failing because if you are just like everyone else…the only competitive advantage you have is cost.

And, that’s what’s creating the race to the bottom.

Which you don’t want to win.

While I don’t think the role of the CMO is dead. I do think that a successful CMO needs to do a number of things:

Be creative.

Be focused on the outcomes and results to be produced by the marketing.

Be unafraid of ignoring the new and shiny for the important.

Clear in stating ideas and opinions.

Stand as a peer to the other members of the executive office, even when pundits are claiming that you can’t be.

Please follow and like us:

The Death of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is Overstated… was originally published on Wakeman Consulting Group

#chief marketing officer #CMO #marketing #max headroom #mentos #outcomes #sales

0 notes

aaronaknightca · 7 years

Text

How Blogging, Podcasting, and Social Media Can Change Your Wireless LAN Career

Keith Parsons interviewed Rowell Dionicio on how his own wireless LAN career was started and continues to grow because of the web and social media.

If you are a part of the wireless LAN professionals community chances are you’ve heard of Rowell Dionicio and his podcast “Clear to Send“. Keith wanted to know the impact social media, blogging, and podcasting has had on Rowell’s career. Here’s their conversation.

If you’d rather, you can listen to the conversation on Wireless LAN Professionals Podcast episode 108 HERE

KP: I happen to be in Utah today and you are…?

RD: I am in San Jose. I’m at home.

KP: Good place. I hear when you do your own podcasts you have a glass of wine. Is it wine time there yet?

RD: Not yet. I didn’t quite get that in time. I literally got home about 30 minutes ago. So I just sat with my son and finished up the batman lego movie, and came down here.

KP: Well thank you for taking the time. I just thought it’d be good to do a couple things. One, cross-promote podcasts. You’re with Clear To Send. Love the title.

RD: Thank you.

KP: Especially for Wi-Fi guys. It has a lot of meaning. you could have done “RTS” instead.

RD: Well, if I did “request to send” It’s like I’m requesting to send the audio info to you. With “clear to send” basically I’m letting you know I’ve got the audio and “I’m clear to send it”. I just figured that way I’m “good to go” and audio is streaming your way.

KP: So the job of your whole podcast is to deliver the Duration ID?

RD: Yep (laugh)

KP: I’ve known you for a couple years now and from before you were even the “podcast guru” and head social media person you are today. I wanted to go back in history a little bit and and find out what triggered this change. You now are engaged in social media you have 80 something podcast episodes.

RD: Yeah, I think we’re at 84 now – I’m starting to lose count.

KP: That is a good number and that’s taken a lot of work. It really helps build the community, so thank you for that. But can you go a little back in history? You were doing Wi-Fi before you were doing podcasting and blogging – what was the trigger point that made you finally say, “You know, I should actually write some of this stuff down?”

RD: I was working for a small MSP (Managed Service Provider) in San Diego and I started getting into Cisco wireless – and I found that I was doing it wrong. When I started looking into more information I found myself with the CWNP material and as I started reading, I found and I could do this much better.

So at least I caught myself there and started optimizing my networks and then I started asking, “OK what else can I find out there?” And of course I stumbled upon your podcasts and also some other ones like “No Strings Attached Show”. I started listening to those and it got to a point where I listened to every single episode that you guys had produced. I wasn’t really involved with the community just yet.

I decided to do something completely different and put myself in an uncomfortable situation which would lead me to grow in this field – and so I said, “You know what? I might not be the the expert in the field but I can certainly learn and then help educate other people who are just starting out like I was”. That’s when I decided to do the podcast.

It was you and and Blake and and Sam that helped me get this format running and then help contribute back to the community

KP: Well you’ve done a bang-up job – actually you’ve you’ve exceeded all our shows – if you count all of our podcasts together, you’ve got more episodes we do in total. So, well done there. How has this experience over these 85 episodes changed you, your career?

RD: When you first start off, the first thing that comes to mind – for anyone who starts in podcasting or just doing audio is “I don’t like the sound of my voice”. I quickly had to get over that and just produce content I thought would be useful to other people. and I hope it still is. I hope the content is great.

It also helped me learn. I feel that teaching other people whatever you’re learning is the best way to learn yourself. if you can explain something easily to somebody and they understand, then that helps you grow as well.

Doing the podcast has also helped me get out of this this bubble I was in of being shy with with people and being shy with putting myself out there. So now I’m a little bit better. I can now approach people. I can say things a little bit online and not be scared about saying it.

It also helps you put yourself into a position of becoming more of an expert in the technology.

KP: You don’t seem shy to me at all. You’ve overcome that really really well.

RD: Well I try sometimes. The in-person stuff is still something I try to get used to.

KP: Well the problem with the in-person thing is there’s actually people there.

RD: Yeah exactly.

KP: I mean really – we like technology – but the people side…

RD: Yeah, the people side is different. Doing a podcast I can hide behind a microphone. And I can always re-record and make it a little bit better if I need. But now, after all these episodes, I usually just record and let it go. I try not to cut out the “ums” and the little phrases you try not to say. I just let it go, it feels more natural that way.

KP: “You know….sometimes…yeah..I yeah…” You mean like that?

RD: Yep exactly.

KP: So you’re a part of this this whole social media phenomenon. How “social” is social media?

RD: Man, it’s gotten to the point where I can’t even keep up anymore. Right? We started off with Twitter. Twitter was great. I started following a few people, and then I started adding more people that I follow. And then I got to a point where I started creating lists on Twitter so I can just follow Wireless people and keep everyone else on my main feed. And then came “slack”. So you got different slack groups and channels and it’s becoming a pain to be everywhere and still be social. Lately I’ve been kind of quiet just because I’ve been so busy.

I try to at least read what people are saying, participate in discussions and try not to be afraid of being wrong, because sometimes that’s gonna happen.

KP: Oh, for me it happens all the time.

My question was more focused on the social aspect. Some people, Not you and me of course – other people like my wife and others say,”these aren’t your real friends -They’re just people on the internet”

What’s your reaction when people say “Oh they’re just they’re not real friends – they’re just internet friends?

RD: My wife will tell me to get off my phone a lot of times. I tell her, “I’m communicating. I’m participating”.

It’s different because a lot of us work individually right? Most of us aren’t working together, in person, so I feel that social media is the best way to communicate with people in our field and our industry if they’re not in the same room with you. I think that’s the way social media plays out.

I think my career started off with social media. I have to give social media a hand there helping me get to where I am today.

KP: and that was why I had you on – just so you could say that one line.

I see a lot of people who say, “well I’m on Twitter, but I don’t know how to do what you guys do.”

RD: It’s, “Just do it.” It’s just like talking to somebody in person except yet you’re limited to a hundred and forty characters.

KP: You just mentioned social media is what kind of started your career – how so?

RD: It all started off when I started tweeting about networking. So just generally about networking not really specific to wireless. With social media it’s really about creating relationships. So I started making actual friends that I would meet in person whenever we could conferences like Cisco Live. And from there, one thing led to another, and I got a job at another location. That also helped get me into an area where technology is everywhere – Silicon Valley. That helped me get to where I am today from who I am able to connect with and socialize with on on Twitter and create relationships with. I think creating those friendships with people and not just treating people on Twitter as an “avatar” – just being friends. It’s different with with this community especially in the Wi-Fi community.

KP: You just have to engage. Don’t just sit there being a troll just listening along. Get in there, answer questions, ask questions. Do those kind of things.

RD: yeah

KP: Well I just want to go in the “way back machine” and remind you of a visit to a bowling alley… where was it? San Jose? Palo Alto?

RD: I think it was near Cupertino or something.

KP: You came for a Tech Field Day and said “Oh man, how do I get involved in this?” and I think, to a person, everyone told you the same thing – “Blog.”

RD: Yeah pretty much

KP: And so, what do you say when people ask “How do you do that?”

RD: You just do it

KP: I remember you can came and said, “I’d like to be here, how do I become a Tech Field a delegate? How do I have followers?” A now you’ve done it all. So… how did you do that?

RD: That one day when I met you guys, I wasn’t a delegate yet, but I did actually attend the “post event” at the bowling alley so I was able to communicate with the guys and meet some of you guys for the first time. And with the feedback you guys gave – which I know it sounds generic, but it was to:

“just do it”

“just start blogging”

“just start tweeting”

What really helped me was the blogging piece.

To get started on blogging you just got to come up with a topic. Write whatever you’re learning about. If it’s about “how association works over Wi-Fi” go and try to figure out what that looks like. Write down how that happens and occurs. What tools did you use to gather the data? And just document that.

It looks technical at first, but then you massage it and make it like a conversation you go, “Hey, I used the Wireshark on my MacBook Pro using AirTool and I was able to sniff the frames on this channel and saw these frames…” – that kind of thing helps you develop a different mindset.

So when you write about it – you’re actually describing a lot of the processes in words, so yeah it has to be understand- I try to write it so it’s understandable for somebody who’s not that technical.

I think that helped me as I kept writing a lot more. It helped open doors to other engagements where I started writing or even taking part in Tech Field Day.

KP: Back up and I just want you to repeat that again about the value of writing because other people say “Oh, you don’t need to be able to write”.

RD: If you just practice writing it takes time. If you go through my blog and look at my earliest posts they are not the best – but you just want to keep writing – just start writing.

I take notes in Evernote. I write bullet points on what I want to touch upon and then I just elaborate on those bullet points. You take the technical content and just try to rephrase it into a way as if you’re describing it to a five-year-old kid right? Tell it like I’m five – or explain it like I’m five – however they say it on reddit.

But you just want to explain it so that you’re teaching someone who doesn’t know anything about the topic. If you can do that and write it – you’ll improve over time and it’s it’s okay to just put something out there that’s not perfect. You just have to overcome the perfection piece.

People in our industry will correct you if you’re wrong – It’s not to say “Hey, whatever you said is incorrect” it’s more of a like a peer review, and it’s education, and we’re not just trying to put each other down we’re just here to learn and help teach others.

When I first started out I just wrote what came to my mind and then eventually you get better as you write. You’ll eventually use a thesaurus to even come up with synonyms for words to make it sound a little bit better.

You know, just start writing – is basically my my advice there.

KP: The sad part is all these things come down to “just do it”. One of the terms I like comes from oh like eisenhower times when he just said “be in the arena” – yeah if you’re not engaged you don’t have to be great just start – and I can’t tell enough people that.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt – April 23, 1910

Now there’s there’s a story from a Tech Field Day from years and years ago when someone had a question, googled it, and their own blog came up. Everyone said they had that same experience.

RD: Happens to me too

KP: If you think, “Google’s pretty good at being my memory for me. Even for the things if I was interested in once. I’ll probably forget it and be interested in again.” So put it in a blog, and when you search for it in google again down the road, you’ll probably find it indexed in your own blog.

RD: One time I had a co-worker come up to me and said, “Hey can you google this?” I googled it and he goes “what’s that result right there? Can you click on that?” I said, “That’s my blog. Why are you making me click on it?”.

It’s funny because you’re your own co-workers are going to to find you. If that’s a concern, one of the things I recommend is to sanitize whatever you’re saying and make sure you don’t publish something you shouldn’t be publishing – like sensitive information.

KP: “My coworker Joe, man he stinks” – Don’t want to put those kind of things in there.

RD: Don’t make any references to coworkers. Don’t make any references to the layout of your network, and other IP addresses and things like that. What I do is I lab it up in my own environment. If you’re able to get the equipment or if you have equipment at work that you can just wipe and you know do basic names and basic IP address schemes so that way you’re not using it on production.

KP: Good, good, good recommendation.

So I read a lot of podcasts have “podcast fade” They can disappear after a while. My Wireless LAN Weekly show went like 50 episodes before I dropped out. Actually, I just got too busy. Kudos to you for hitting 80 something you’re definitely on a stride. What’s the future for Clear To Send?

RD: I will say it’s probably the one of the most difficult things to do – podcasting. You’ll understand this, because if you don’t have the resources to help you, you have to do everything on your own. You have to set up the microphone, the mixer, make sure the audio is good. Then you got to do the editing afterwards. And I’ve gone through growing pains on the podcast myself. There are weeks where I don’t record it.

Now I have another host on to at least help with topics. He helps start discussions and with the back and forth. It gets boring talking to yourself, talking to the wall. What we want to do is bring on more interviews to help boost the education. One of my favorite episodes we’ve done was the one with Devin Akin. I felt like I learned so much from that podcast. That’s what we want to do, help educate people and also bring in news about the industry, what’s going on. A perfect example is Mobility Field Day that’s coming up which for sure we will be podcasting about.

KP: I had your co-host François Vergès in a class in Oslo Norway. I asked if he wanted to go to dinner. He said, “no I have to go podcast.” It’s a commitment. You have to kind of cut other things out in order to to dedicate the time.

RD: I wish he told me I would have let him go to the dinner.

KP: Oh no. He he had his wife there too. So they would rather stay together than go to dinner with me.

Well thanks Rowell for your time. I appreciate all you’ve done in the podcasting world helping the community. Anything we can do to help more people understand more things about how Wi-Fi works and to let them learn they can be involved is great.

RD: Yeah

KP: Everyone I know who’s involved in Wi-Fi at some point wasn’t, wanted to, and got engaged. If you’re listening and you’d like to be more involved just listen to Rowell and “Just Do It.”

RD: Just do it

KP: Now you got Nike paying you on the backside for that? Probably sue you for using their terms.

RD: All right so I’ll say, “Just go ahead and do it.”

KP: There you go. Well done. Thanks for your time today Rowell.

RD: Well thank you.

The post How Blogging, Podcasting, and Social Media Can Change Your Wireless LAN Career appeared first on Wireless LAN Professionals.

from https://www.wlanpros.com/resources/blogging-podcasting-social-media-can-change-wireless-lan-career/

0 notes

faymdsmithus · 7 years

Text

How Blogging, Podcasting, and Social Media Can Change Your Wireless LAN Career

Keith Parsons interviewed Rowell Dionicio on how his own wireless LAN career was started and continues to grow because of the web and social media.

If you’d rather, you can listen to the conversation on Wireless LAN Professionals Podcast episode 108 HERE

KP: Welcome back this is Keith Parsons with Wireless LAN Professionals Podcast and my guest today is Rowell Dionicio, did I say that right?

RD: that’s correct. you got it

KP: it’s got lots of letters in it.

RD: (laugh)

KP: I happen to be in Utah today and you are…?

RD: I am in San Jose. I’m at home.

KP: Good place. I hear when you do your own podcasts you have a glass of wine. Is it wine time there yet?

RD: Not yet. I didn’t quite get that in time. I literally got home about 30 minutes ago. So I just sat with my son and finished up the batman lego movie, and came down here.

KP: Well thank you for taking the time. I just thought it’d be good to a couple things. One, cross-promote podcasts. You’re with Clear To Send. Love the title.

RD: Thank you.

KP: Especially for Wi-Fi guys. It has a lot of meaning. you could have done “RTS” instead.

KP: So the job of your whole podcast is to deliver the Duration ID?

RD: Yep (laugh)

RD: Yeah, I think we’re at 84 now – I’m starting to lose count.

It was you and and Blake and and Sam that helped me get this format running and then help contribute back to the community

It also helps you put yourself into a position of becoming more of an expert in the technology.

KP: You don’t seem shy to me at all. You’ve overcome that really really well.

RD: Well I try sometimes. The in-person stuff is still something I try to get used to.

KP: Well the problem with the in-person thing is there’s actually people there.

RD: Yeah exactly.

KP: I mean really – we like technology – but the people side…

KP: “You know….sometimes…yeah..I yeah…” You mean like that?

RD: Yep exactly.

KP: so you’re a part of this this whole social media phenomenon. How “social” is social media?

I try to at least read what people are saying, participate in discussions and try not to be afraid of being wrong, because sometimes that’s gonna happen.

KP: Oh, for me it happens all the time.

My question was more focused on the social aspect. Some people, Not you and me of course – other people like my wife and and others say,”these aren’t your real friends -They’re just people on the internet”