Tag Archives: Dallas

Working Remotely

Posted on February 12, 2010 | Leave a comment

With record snowfall in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, I’m working from home today.  It’s not an incredibly odd event for me to be working from home.  My job is almost completely mobile, so I’m not necessarily chained to my cubicle (and if I were…I would be miserable)!  Our leaders are pretty flexible about where we do our work (as long as it gets done).  But I have a few FAVORITE things about working from home:

  • Jack Bauer is by my side constantly.  The little guy gets so excited when I get my laptop out, he sits by me and watches me type – super cute.
  • MUSIC!  Due to cubicle etiquette and the respect I have for my cubemates I usually listen to music with headphones on.  At home, I can crank it super loud.  Currently streaming on Pandora: Love Lockdown, Kayne West.
  • Sunlight, vitamin D, and a window.
  • There are almost zero distractions at home.  I park in the garage, so no one even knows I am home to sell me cookies or bibles.
  • Movement – I can get outta my seat to stretch, do high kicks, work on my squat form…whatever.   I mean, honestly, I can do that at work too…it’s just I don’t get weird looks at home.
  • I can put in a few extra hours without feeling like I’m working extreme overtime.
  • I consciously try to be better about calling/emailing people back.   Therefore, my work automatically improves.

Where do you do your best work?

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Posted in Fort Worth, Hurst, Work

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Cats Fly Free?

Posted on January 27, 2010 | 2 Comments

My poor little cat wants to fly with me today. I would take him but unfortunately he does not fit in a standard size pet carrier that fits under the seat in front of me! Love you Jack!

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Posted in Work

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Social Media Club Dallas

Posted on January 24, 2010 | 3 Comments

Last night I attended my first Social Media Club Dallas meeting since the relaunch of the club.   I must say this was a super organized well thought-out event.  My colleague and I geeked it out with the best of the Dallas Twitterati and Foursquare fanatics.  The meeting had a great turnout, which isn’t surprising since they kicked off the first meeting of 2010 with the highly esteemed blogger and writer Chris Brogan.  Brogan tackled a bunch of my favorite concepts  -

  • We are all in the Customer Service business.
  • If you aren’t living in Twitter search, you aren’t using the tool to it’s full potential.
  • Don’t self-promote all the time.  If you want readers on your blog don’t write about yourself.

It was great to reconnect with folks that I’ve met at other Dallas events and meet some of my Twitter friends face to face!   I also met a few new contacts as well.

Mike Merrill, SMC President, did a great job of kicking off the new year.  I have a feeling lots of new locals will be joining Social Media Club Dallas after this event.

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Posted in Work

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Travelin and using Twitter

Posted on September 10, 2009 | Leave a comment

When I’m speaking or teaching Social Media to others, I often am asked how I manage the constant flow of information coming in on Twitter.  The truth is that I’ve actually gotten to a place where I’m not reading all the tweets that come in from the people I’m following.  Instead I use the Twitter search engine to hunt down key words.  Two great travel examples that come to mind:

Currently I’m in Austin speaking at a conference.  Before I left Dallas I did a quick Twitter search for #Austin.  With that quick search I found that my hotel is on Twitter and I also found the hashtag that had been assigned to this conference.   Two vital things to know when you are heading outta town for a conference.

My second example is from when I was driving through New Mexico and Arizona with my family in route to Las Vegas (yes, I work for an airline…and we drove to Vegas).  Along the way we decided to venture down Historic Route 66.  Of course the whole journey I was searching keywords on Twitter looking for places to stop and explore.  When we entered Williams Arizona, I stumbled across a tweet about a Western Style Shootout performance that they have in the town square every day at 7pm.  I also found the Wigwam Motel on Twitter and they offered me 10% off my hotel rate if I stayed there and said I found it on Twitter.  Cool stuff…

Both examples will help manage the content flow on Twitter especially when you are traveling or looking for specific information.  Yes, I believe the big news will find you on Twitter or Facebook.  But if you are looking for very specific information I recommend searching keywords.

Here’s a pic that cracks me up from our family trip to Las Vegas, yes it’s a “Awkward Family Photo“

Who is that person running across our family pic?

Who is that person running across our family pic?

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Posted in My Faves

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My Bed vs. Hotel Bed

Posted on August 19, 2009 | Leave a comment

Today, I made a quick trip to Kansas City.  Left Dallas at 8:10 am, and am now leaving KC at 3:10…that gets me HOME by 4:30.  These days trips are the way to go.  Here’s why:

My Bed:

Has my funny cat, my FULL sized beauty products, a reasonably priced bottle of wine, my DVR, a boyfriend, and of course my blankie.

A Hotel Bed:

Has none of the above.

The choice is simple.  If I can do my outta town biz in one quick trip, I do.  It saves money and sanity!

P.s. Kansas City, and the people here were fantastic!  Thanks for having me : )  Enjoy happy hour tonight!

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Posted in Uncategorized

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They Call It Work For a Reason

Posted on July 30, 2009 | 2 Comments

I love my job.  It requires a lot of time and passion.  Sometimes I complain about working long hours, the people I work with, or the meetings I have to sit through.  Then, the second I get home and see Ryan covered in sweat, face red, hands cut up, and so exhausted he can hardly speak…I realize, what in the world am I complaining about?  You see, where I work, I am thanked NONSTOP for the hours I put in.  My bosses reward me with gift cards, half days off, and lunches out at cool Dallas restaurants.  My team understands one another and actually WANTS to hang out after work (today we went to Lee Harvey’s).

Ryan’s job requires a ton of manual labor, outside, seven days a week!  They aren’t giving him a special parking spot for being a “star”, his bosses surely aren’t giving him any credit for the company’s recent success, and he still goes to work every morning with a decent attitude.

I guess the point of this post, as I sit here listening to him working on our sprinklers  (yes, it’s almost 10pm), is that “working too much” is in the eye of the beholder.  What to me seems like a miserable job, to him…it’s a dream not to have to work in a cube, or bring work home.  He sees me checking in after hours, and he is thrilled that all he has to do is show up, do the work, and get paid.

His hard work is paying off though…more on that later : )  For now, I am tired, Jack Bauer woke me up last night at 4:30am because there was a bug in his food bowl (I don’t blame him, I’d be upset too)!

Signing off with one of the best quotes I heard today “If everything is important, nothing is.”

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Posted in Work

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