LEARN.EVERY.DAY
“We demonstrate wisdom not by our capacity to teach, but rather our eagerness to learn.” PJ Glennon
Because 2012 is a leap year, we have been gifted a whole extra day of learning. At least 366 new facts, histories, rules, stories, lessons or observations await permanent registration on the brain this year. (And of course, as a consultant, expertise is expected – so here’s how I learn.)
OK – so I’m WAY behind on this! But I still love it – so it’s just on hold. Busy = good!!
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 22 - One of my favorite publications, Fast Company, which regularly features its articles on LinkedIn, has recognized Southern New Hampshire University as one of its 50 Most Innovative Companies. An early entrant into the online degree program, SNHU has masterfully exploded the boundaries of traditional higher education by shaking up traditional learning methods, and introducing imaginative, inventive programs such as an Innovation Lab and College Unbound, and using free Creative Commons-licensed open educational resources that can be delivered on e-readers, etc. Fantastic! Learning source: Fast Company via LinkedIn
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 21 – Time Machine performs backups, restores items (or your entire system) from a Time Machine backup, and migrates existing Time Machine backups to a new Mac. And it’s absolutely breathtaking to watch and use. Truly like watching a performance. Worth the price of admission for peace of mind and artistic presentation! Thanks
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 20 – Love Shark Tank on ABC so much I have initiated a Twitter campaign to become the new hostess/lifeguard. Willing to be coached by Chris Harrison, Jeff Probst and Ryan Seacrest. Why are there no women hosts for the biggest reality TV shows? THIS IS NO JOKE!
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 19 – So proud of my current home state of Maryland! ”The Civil Marriage Protection Act of 2012 passed in the House of Delegates” (where it was defeated last year) “by 72-67, just one more than the minimum number of votes needed for approval.” Still has to pass in the Senate, and then will go to voter referendum in November. (Would have credited The Baltimore Sun here, but I don’t have a digital subscription! ) Learning credit: One of my very faves, and often cited on this blog, The Huffington Post
And so sad for New Jersey, which I still call home. Governor Chris Christie rejected “a bill allowing same-sex marriage in New Jersey by quickly vetoing the measure Friday and renewing his call for a ballot question to decide the issue.” Governor Christie stated blah, blah, blah …”a question that represents a profoundly significant societal change.”
Learning credit: One of my very faves, and often cited on this blog, The Huffington Post
Here’s what I’d like to know: Exactly what profound change does same sex marriage really represent? Teaching acceptance to the intolerant? That’s good. Dignified treatment for all human beings, because we have no business legislating what goes on in ANYBODY’s bedrooms? That’s also good. Change is good. Profound change is necessary.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 18 - The Baltimore Tech community – don’t know what we’d do without them. 
Just as I’m getting really comfortable with WordPress basics, and getting ready to self-learn some advanced features, they offer a MeetUp with WordPress pros. All of this to promote tech ingenuity, tech community, and tech entrepreneurial spirit. It works! I’m a huge fan, and appreciate the constant learning!
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 17 – Hot off the press from my friend, Mario Armstrong, reporting from the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas: “Will.i.am, believe it or not, is actually an Intel employee (his title is the “Director of Creative Innovation”—pretty impressive!), and he’s helping them with their branding and design of future laptops and concept computers.”
Learning Source: ”Mario Armstrong is a digital lifestyle expert, the tech corespondent for the TODAY show and CNN, and the host of a daily tech talk radio show on SiriusXM. An entrepreneur by nature, Mario made his passion his career by quitting his day job and founding Mario Armstrong Media. Follow Mario at @MarioArmstrong.”
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 16 – Why tablets have had such an impact: They’re big enough so we can see everything on the screen, easily; they’re small enough that we carry them around with us, and use them at places like the grocery store, business meetings, car shopping, etc.
How does this translate to new marketing opportunities? Consider taking advantage of geo-localization technologies such as a Foursquare check-in coupon. Have a storefront? Feature your QR code to walk-in or walk-by traffic and link it to a sale or event. Develop your own mobile app to enhance your customer’s shopping experience. Learning Sources: American Express Open Forum Blog and Boston.com Global Business Hub
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February 15 – A government bailout success story! The basic basics: General Motors, in 2009, receives large government sum of money to rescue it from bankruptcy. GM invests into improving its product. Chevy Silverado earns accolades as a top-rated small truck. GM plant in Flint, Michigan, to meet subsequent higher demand for award-winning product, adds an overnight production shift. 750 direct jobs created, plus derivative jobs created by related industries, eg., parts, tires, etc. Congrats! Learning credit: Rock Center with Brian Williams
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 14 - According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine’s Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.) Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 13 - What’s your QR Code? Here’s mine:
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 12 – Who’s won the most Grammy awards? You’ll be surprised.
Sir Georg Solti, a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, most famous for best known for leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1969-91 holds the record for having won the most Grammy awards, at 31.
Coming in second, tied at 27 each, are legendary music producer Quincy Jones, and American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler Alison Krauss.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 11 – Somewhere around 8:00pm EST, the first post appeared on one of my social media sites: Whitney Houston, music superstar, dies. I doubt if there’s anyone who is “stuck in the 80′s” who doesn’t know every word to all of her songs. And even though it really wasn’t a good movie at all, didn’t we all love The Bodyguard?
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 10 – Dramatic irony - dra·mat·ic/drəˈmatik i·ro·ny/ˈīrənē/
noun: irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the play.
Example: Komen creates firestorm with seemingly politically motivated decision to eliminate future funding for Planned Parenthood. In an interview with The Daily Beast, former Komen VP Karen Handel says Planned Parenthood broke a secret pact and launched an ‘Armageddon.’ She calls the organization ‘a gigantic bully, using Komen as its own personal punching bag.’
Learning credits: Dictionary.com and The Daily Beast
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 9 - This morning, while teaching college students cool stuff about the internet, and really impressing them with my wealth of knowledge, I kept referring to today as Monday. One hour after class ended, I learned it was Wednesday.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 8 – Maintaining a daily blog, even if just sharing tidbits of fun information, is more difficult than I thought. For days that I miss, and in the spirit of ethics, I review my calendar, my emails, and my social media accounts to reconstruct what I was doing on that day, and then share my learning. I still have no problem coming up with content!
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 7 -I LOVE Otherinbox.com. It’s your very own email sorter, sifting through your email for you and automatically prioritizing everything that comes in. It doesn’t delete anything, but puts the junkmail and other non-priority in their own special folder, so you can peruse at your leisure. And you get a daily report so you can quickly scan the day’s messages. So productive and so efficient. And developed by Baltimore based tech entrepreneur Mike Subelsky. So awseome!
NOT WHERE I TRAIN
February 6 – One mile swim in a 25-yard (usually indoor) pool = 1760 yards = 70 lengths. Darn. I’ve been working from the 25-meter (usually outdoor) pool count, which
is a much less grueling 64 lengths. Grrrr.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 5 - Superbowl XLVI. The crowning of the most successful team in NFL football this year, and pre-game and half-time performances from the biggest stars in the entertainment industry. Also, starting in 1978, NFL stars from the past and present conduct the game opening coin toss. The 1993 stars lineup: OJ Simpson was the designated coin tosser, Michael Jackson was the half-time entertainment, and the half-time theme that year was “Heal the World.” Learning source: The National Football League
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 4 - A short list of words that used to mean something completely different:
- tweet – bird talk
- app – snack you eat before main course
- hit – come into contact with forcefully, or a popular song or movie or TV show
- post – part of the fence
- Bing – crooner who sang lots of Christmas carols
- unfriend or defriend- not a recognized word
- web – something a spider spins
- online – Long Island colloquialism for standing in a line
- gig – a cool event or job
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 3 – How does Facebook make money if we all use it for free?
There are two distinct sides of Facebook: the content side, which we all use for free, and the advertising side, which, hello, is any business prospector’s dream come true.
Think of Facebook as a store that over 500,000,000 people of nearly every demographic visit, and 250,000,000 of them visit EVERY DAY. Anyone can:
- set up a booth at this Facebook store for free;
- get placed in a primo location where you can feature your best stuff for free;
- walk your customers into your own store for a small referral fee that you and the Facebook store agree to;
Facebook makes the vast majority of its money by selling ads on its site. Facebook ad revenues were estimated at $1.9 billion in 2010, and over $4 billion in 2011.
Facebook just announced that it will enter the investment market in the near future, offering $5 billion worth of shares (IPO) to the public in the near future.
And that’s how Facebook makes money.
Learning credits: Huffington Post, Digital Firefly Marketing, Investment News, About Advertising on Facebook, Socialnomics
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 2 - A study of weather data over several decades for 13 cities across Canada reveals there was an equal number of cloudy and sunny days on February 2. During that period, groundhogs’ predictions were correct only 37% of the time. Who would spend time or money investigating the accuracy of weather predictions made by a groundhog who speaks in “Groundhogese?”
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
February 1 - As of today, only 5 states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and New Hampshire) and The District of Columbia allow same-sex couples access to civil marriage rights. In 1997, The Maryland legislature voted down a bill that would have legalized same-sex marriage in the state. Since then, same sex marriage bills have been introduced, and never passed, in 2008, 2009, 2011. This year, Governor O’Malley has proposed a same-sex marriage bill. Let’s hope we get it right this time. Learning Credit: Care 2 Make a Difference
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 31 - Brown Craig Turner’s tag: other architects draw buildings… we draw crowds. Gorgeous offices that look exactly like a cool architectural firm’s offices should and a creative, friendly fun atmosphere. Thanks to President and CEO Bryce Turner for the outreach. Power Plant Live!, Belvedere Square, Landside Food Court at BWI, Lexington Market. So many exquisite projects!
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 30 - Spring Semester begins. Wouldn’t it be so great if my students put an on my desk?
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 29 - Riding in the passenger seat, while your new driver operates the 5,000 pound machine at 65 MPH, brings new meaning to the phrase “on the edge of your seat.”
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 28 – The real work for the neediest people is performed by one human being to another. My client, Guadalupe Family Services, provides comprehensive social services to the families in North Camden, NJ. The list of services, which includes education, summer camps, counseling, gift giving, food provision, and comfort and at least 10 other much needed direct services. All of this in a place that owns a dubious distinction of being voted one of America‘s most violent cities more than once. Guadalupe Family Services enriches these lives, renews their faith in humanity, and strengthens its families and the community they live in.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 27 – Congrats to my incredible parents, 2012 winners of the New Jersey Hospital Association’s HRET Community Outreach Award. Dr. Vince and Nurse Peggy operate Community Health Practice in Camden, NJ and have gotten yet another recognition for their awesomeness. The ultimate role models, heroes, parents, friends, providers, and inspiration.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 26 – Pulling together a group of very busy people for a meeting always takes so much more time and effort than it should. Doodle is a brilliantly simple, free, 
online meeting planning site that lets all meeting invitees record their preferences and availability. So simple. So productive.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 25 – Email Subject lines – We’ve all learned the rules now about avoiding the dreaded spam designation by avoiding terms like “Urgent” or “Deadline.” My personal
pet peeve is seeing “Monthly Newsletter.” It won’t land you in spam, but it’s not going to engage many either. Use a short, simple and descriptive phrase about the content that will peak the recipient’s interest enough to open. That’s the subject line’s ONLY job. Get the reader to click. MailChimp is really fun to use because it has a very sassy monkey that keeps you laughing and productive while you’re laboring over the newsletter that takes much longer to produce than anyone really knows.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 24 – Favorite document sharing tool: well, it depends! For basic group writing and editing I like Google Docs (free). You can edit, track changes, add comments and find previous versions very easily. If you need to add specialized formatting (which is likely), follow the old rules of finalizing the content first and making it pretty at the end. Download your final word doc or spreadsheet into Microsoft and have at it! So much more efficient than emailing attachments, and working from an old version!
Or try Microsoft’s SkyDrive(free) a cloud-based file hosting service. Very similar to an in-house network drive – except you can’t yell across the office to ask the other person to get out of the doc you need to revise!
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 23, 2012
January 23 – The best strategy to ensure being seen in crowd shots on the Today Show: pick a day that is cold and rainy, and commit to your personal air time. A bucket list event for sure. Follow your TV debut up with a tour of NBC Studios!
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 22 – New York City, any time of the year, may just be as exciting and fun as it gets. Every visit is unique, yet familiar – and the city never disappoints. This time, we watched NFL Playoffs at The Stadium Grill at Bowlmohr Lanes. Stadium seating…29 HD TV’s…great food. Perfect fun! (Except for the game outcome – about which we won’t speak.)
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 21 – New England, in the snow, may be as picturesque as it gets. Driving in that snow…as it’s coming down…on a girls’ only road trip to return UMass sophomore for the beginning of her new semester…was not part of the plan.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 20 – Have some fun, and send a simple survey using Google Docs. Create a new form, and Google walks you right through the process, and creates a link that can be embedded in your delivery vehicle of choice (email marketing service, website, basic email.) One of the more user-friendly and sophisticated tools in the Google Docs suite. Designing a simple survey is smooth and professional. Responses can be easily manipulated, easily reported, and easily shared. Try it for customer feedback!
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 19 – I love for so many reasons: networking, targeted information, keeping professional qualifications updated at all times, seeing at a glance what your colleagues are learning and sharing, interesting blogs and resources that I might not otherwise find.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
This image actually links to an Ipod App that will make this sound!
January 18 – Responding to an RFP (Request for Proposals) is the ultimate definition of giving it all away. The anxiety of submitting your final proposal by the deadline, following what seem like arbitrary rules for submission, and proposing the best, most creative solution is a lot like listening to nails on a chalkboard. Gives you the shivers!
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 17 – Howard Community College is not only a Great College to Work For (2009, 2010, 2011), but also the 2012 Heiskell Award Winner: Internationalizing the Community College. Truly setting a brilliant standard in higher education. I’m a proud adjunct faculty member here!
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 16 – Martin Luther King Day was observed for the first time in 1986. Opponents to the creation of a federal holiday in honor of MLK included:
- Arizona Senator John McCain, who voted against the bill, objected to celebrating a private citizen who had never held elected office, and therefore wasn’t important enough.
- US President Ronald Reagan, citing federal government cost concerns, but ultimately signing the bill, stating ”Congress seemed bent on making it a national holiday.”
Congress, in 1983, passed the bill with an overwhelming veto-proof majority (338 to 90 in the House of Representatives and 78 to 22 in the Senate.) Learning credit: Wikipedia – though I clicked through all the footnotes to verify the info!
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 15 – Howard County Recreation and Park’s Meadowbrook facility is convenient, beautiful, and hosts indoor leagues in many sports, including my fave, field hockey! It’s the final phase of the Meadowbrook Park, a 77-acre park in Ellicott City boasting playing fields, nature and walking trails, playgrounds, outdoor basketball and tennis courts, and more. No wonder Ellicott City was voted one of Money Magazine’s best places to live!
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
Hey John Harbaugh!
January 14 – NFL playoffs! So love football, and Ravens-watching with friends is mandatory. Every time Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh comes on the TV screen, I give him a shout out, which I have learned encourages him and ultimately helps the team. My friends and fellow football fans find this very annoying entertaining. Ravens defeat Texans 20-13.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 13 – The Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County is celebrating its 10th year of serving women and children in Howard County, MD. 
The annual meeting planning committee is busy preparing another fabulous and inspiring event on Monday, March 19th at the beautiful Howard County Conservancy, which includes past, current and future leaders. Get involved! We have something special for girls and women of all ages!
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 12 – The Baltimore Business Journal (BBJ) is not just a business news publication. It is a networking facilitator offering business opportunities, events, expert analyses and review of current topics, and guidance on generating qualified sales leads. And the lists!! So worth the investment. Thanks to Lisa Carmichael of Baltimore Business Journal and The Business Women’s Network of Howard County for hosting a very informative and fun seminar.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 11 – Mice have no manners.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 10 – Mortgage fraud, which led the economy’s charge downward, continues in the worst ways. Now, preying on the unlucky souls who are facing eviction from their homes, “rescue” firms accept up-front fees and promise mortgage relief. Then they run with the money, and foreclosure proceedings continue uninterrupted. Learning credit: Mortgage Fraud Blog via Baltimore Sun writer Yvonne Wenger via community builder Dave Troy
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 9 – I’ve learned, for the 845th and probably not final time, that I can’t listen to my iPod while trying to write and think creatively. I keep singing all the words, which I know for every song (too bad my voice quality is a bit like nails…chalkboard!) Bring on the classical music! Learning credits: R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen, ABBA, Simon and Garfunkel, Squeeze, The Police, Pearl Jam
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 8 – Men and their TV remotes. Two football incidents, with 2 different and otherwise very respectable men today. SMH. Learning credit: Names have been withheld to protect reputations.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 7 - Inspiration and motivation provided by great friends comes in many different forms. In my case, my great friends just flat out tell me what I’m going to do, with them, that will be good for me. I protest. They ignore. They motivate. I thank. You go, girls! Learning credits: Buffy Beaudoin-Schwartz, Beth Harbinson, Paula Dwyer
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 6 – In a meeting to plan a collaborative proposal effort, I learned that my friend and colleague, Jon Weinstein, has a fabulous mind for strategic project management. Thanks for the respect and support! Change is only the beginning. It’s about transformation. Learning credit: Line of Sight, LLC.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 5 – I don’t like reading foul language, unless it’s written in novel-like medium. I especially don’t like seeing it on social media, and find myself doing an old-fashioned gasp any time I see it. A curious reaction from someone who uses profanity all too much in her everyday speech!
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 4 – The Baltimore tech community operates so differently, and so much more effectively, than the traditional corporate community. Decision making is transparent, communication is collaborative, and attitudes are respectful. The creative spirit, the entrepreneurial enthusiasm, and the community-minded efforts create consensus, a bit of controversy, intelligent debate, and economic progress. I’m so proud to know so many, and SO wish I understood half of what they say! Join them as tech meets art meets everyone on January 21 at CreateBaltimore2.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 3 – Planning to see Signature Theatre production of Hairspray this Friday. Last time I was at Signature Theatre, they played host to my good-bye party from WETA TV26/FM91, and it was located in a cute, small renovated auto garage a few doors down from our offices. 
Today I learned that Signature Theatre is now a brilliant, cultural anchor in Shirlington Village, whose reviews include this from The New York Times: ”Positively Swanky.” Congrats to two of my long ago WETA co-horts and friends: co-founder and artistic director Eric Schaeffer, and Robert Aubry Davis as Edna Turnblad!!
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 2 – Love the planning and marketing with Gympact, a new app that fines you for not going to the gym, but pays you for going – and debuted with the new year, when so many of us make resolutions about exercising that we never keep. Beautiful symmetry of ingenuity, technology, marketing, social networking, and entrepreneurial spirit! The idea was hatched by in a Harvard dorm room when a behavioral economics class met our love of fitness. (Currently only available on iPhone. Hope we get it on Droids soon!!) Learning credit: Mashable.com via Columbia Triathlon Association via Facebook.
LEARN.EVERY.DAY
January 1, 2012 – Pinterest.com is a cool site where you can share your personal and/or professional interests in yet another, differently organized and fun-to-use fashion. I’m constantly amazed at the ingenuity of techies who can tap interests of the general public with new offerings. The definitive intersection of art and technology is creativity. Learning credit: Mickey Gomez, Executive Director, Volunteer Center Serving Howard County
