Welcome to my first blog post of 2010. I didn't expect that my hiatus would be over a month long, but here I am in mid-January.
Thanks to those of you who took the time to complete my blog feedback survey at the end of 2009 - it was really helpful in understanding how my regular readers see the blog. From the responses I received, here are the highlights:
I've been walking to and from work via the Main Street business district here in Richmond, Indiana, and as I take in with fresh eyes the businesses and product/service offerings located there, I can't help but argue a bit with the folks who would say it's a struggling area. We have several great local restaurants, a wide variety of local banks, a place devoted entirely to the art of knitting and crocheting, a cloud computing specialist, a local sporting goods store, massage therapists and acupuncturists, software consultants and website developers, an amazing toy store, bakeries and candy shops, several local jewelers, coffee shops...yeah, the list keeps going on. What a neat place to live and work!
One of the new additions that I'm most proud of right now is the Clear Creek Food Cooperative, located at 710 East Main Street, right below my company's new headquarters. The store is open to the public as of this past weekend, and the inventory is still growing as we stock local foods, organic produce, crafts and gifts made by local artisans, and healthy bulk foods, snacks, spices and more. Continue reading "Clear Creek Food Cooperative on Main Street"
I'm doing some planning for the future of this blog, and I'd like your feedback. Of course, you're always welcome to leave your comments in the comments section below, but I've also created a survey with some specific questions that I would appreciate your candid responses to.
It's only 10 questions, most are multiple choice, and if you do take it by the end of the year, I'll put you in a drawing to win $25, either for any business in the Center City business district in Richmond, Indiana or for Amazon.com. (And if you don't want to identify yourself, that's fine too, you just won't be in the drawing.)
Thanks for your feedback.
I have a few upcoming speaking events that you might be interested in:
I hope you can join me for one of these events!
Last night I got to experience Richmond as a kind of tourist, and I really enjoyed it. I was hosting cross-country cyclist Ben Lyon at my house through a Warmshowers.org connection, and he came into town ready to hang out and see some sights. We ended up gathered with Aaron, Mark and Thomas on my front porch to hear about Ben's trip so far, and then set out on our bikes for dinner. Continue reading "Velotraverse"
Because you come here every day looking for blogging goodness, you've probably noticed that I've been a little quiet lately on that front. This is in no small part due to the exciting adventure that has been moving my company's main office from the location we've occupied for ~9 years at 914 East Main Street in Richmond, to our new location at 710 East Main St, Suite 200 in Richmond.
The move brings with it a great expansion into a much more flexible and usable space, a whole new outlook on the world with natural light via second story windows, and a new beginning in the life of the company. One of the tag-lines in our marketing materials is "World Class Services Without Urban Overhead." Well, now we have a bit more urban overhead, and I thought I'd share a few notes and reflections on the move:
Continue reading "A Bit More Urban Overhead for Summersault"
Last summer, two generally swell guys in Indianapolis, Noah Coffey and Shawn Plew, decided to put together a conference for people in the area interested in blogging and social media, and it went quite well for a first-time effort - you can read my full reflections on Blog Indiana 2008 in a previous post. (I believe it also marked the beginning of my Twitter usage - gasp.)
The dynamic duo have teamed up to do it again for Blog Indiana 2009, which starts later this week. It looks to be an expanded and amplified version of the inaugural event - the conference will span three days with multiple tracks - blogging and social media, higher education, non-profit, etc. - and it sounds like there will be a lot more people there too (with great representation from Richmond). Summersault has returned as an event sponsor, and I'm also presenting again, this time with a session on "Using Social Media for Real-World Community Improvement" and as a panelist in a session about "technology."
I've apparently also been nominated for the award of "Best Hoosier Blogger" in the "2009 Blindy Awards," and while I'm not saying that I will give you significant amounts of cash just because you click on this link and vote for me, I'm not saying I won't do that either.
I'm looking forward to gathering with fellow bloggers and fans of technology, and sharing about how these tools can help us make life a little better for everyone. I hope to see some of you there!
It's almost, but not quite, embarrassing to admit how much time I spent as a kid playing "Radio DJ" in my room. I had a Fisher Price turntable along with a cassette deck hooked into a surprisingly advanced "be your own DJ" toy mixing device, and I would spin tunes for hours, paying particular attention the cross fades, the track notes announced in between songs, and faux news and weather reports to my non-existent listeners. You create art for yourself regardless of whether someone else gets to view/hear it, right?
One of my recurring summer jobs, in addition to filling and unfilling the tubes of the Internets, is to adjust the height of the small vertically-oriented plant life that densely covers the land surrounding my house.
Many people refer to this act as "cutting the grass."
Over the last few years I've tried quite a wide variety of approaches to and implements for "cutting the grass," and I'd like to share them with you now, because imparting unsolicited and only moderately useful information to a halfway-interested audience is what blogging is all about, no?
This past week I had my first experience hosting some cross-country cyclists for a night. Quinn, Ken and Andy are biking from Portland, OR to New York, NY and came through Indiana, riding into Richmond on US-40. I recently became the sole human occupant of a house with great space for hosting guests, and so I figured the least I could do is sign up for some opportunities to help out folks who find themselves on interesting journeys through the area.
WarmShowers.org is a resource for facilitating just that for cyclists, and it's a great way to find or offer lodging. You can provide as much or as little information about your location and "amenities" as you want, and you're under no obligation to host anyone at any particular time. It's similar to other resources like CouchSurfing.org or even Mennonite Your Way.
