Professional Me and You

I am an experienced and vetted Marketing Manager with a passion for relationship and brand building, by discovering what's important to and best for my customers and my company, and making it happen via traditional and emerging means.

Who are you? And, what do you do for a living?

Infographic Characterization

Fun with infographics! I am what I tweet.

#Avgeek Photo Challenge

What dedicated aerophile doesn't love an opportunity to plane spot and photograph aircraft? If you don't, then you are undeserving of the #avgeek moniker!

For those of us with av-gas in our veins and loving the smell of jet fuel in the morning, I have a proposal. I propose that we declare April 2012 - the #Avgeek Photo Challenge.

What comprises the challenge you ask? Well first get yourself an instagram, twitpic or similar photo sharing account and connect it to your tweets. Once that's accomplished, beginning on April 1st, start snapping photos. Upload the photos, tag 'em with the hashtag "#avgeekphoto" and tweet them.

What should you capture in your photos? Well, I've taken the liberty of creating our avgeekery content calendar. See below:

#Avgeek Photo Challenge Calendar:
4/1 - your favorite airline
4/2 - fixed wing
4/3 - any favorite aircraft
4/4 - a pilot
4/5 - night time flight
4/6 - the cockpit
4/7 - aircraft engine
4/8 - wheels down
4/9 - wheels up
4/10 - contrails
4/11 - window seat view
4/12 - rotors
4/13 - tail art
4/14 - landing gear
4/15 - logos and livery
4/16 - wings
4/17 - an airport you love
4/18 - an airport you hate
4/19 - the frequent flyer lounge
4/20 - the fleet
4/21 - baggage handling
4/22 - on approach
4/23 - metal birds
4/24 - general aviation
4/25 - military aviation
4/26 - a piece of aviation history
4/27 - your aviation hero
4/28 - the birth of aviation
4/29 - experimental aircraft
4/30 - an #avgeek

This isn't a competition and there are no prizes. This simply an opportunity to share our mutual love of aviation!

The rules - no naysayers, if you don't like this idea, you need not participate! Don't steal work of others and make sure your content is fresh and original. Most importantly, have fun!

So, happy flying, plane spotting and photo sharing!

Any comments, questions or feedback? Contact me via social means.

Addendum - I've been asked if photos already snapped can be used - sure can!

Personal Branding 101

Hello, my name is .... and I ....

When you introduce yourself to a new contact or colleague - do you stand out? Is what you're sharing about you memorable? Have you personal brand? Of course you do!

Personal branding is what makes you uniquely you. It's all of you from your appearance to your opinions to your knowledge and expertise. A fraction of it is even includes what you do for a living. So what's a brand? A brand is often what distinguishes one product, service, or experience from the next in the business world. We're in an era where the professional, personal and social aspects of life are increasingly blended together.

Personal branding has long been a habit of politicians and celebrities for years - there's no reason why you cannot develop your own personal branding.

How does one define a personal brand?

• Define how you stand out from the crowd.
• Understand what your core competencies and abilities are.
• Map out the value proposition that you offer.
• Figure out what makes you compelling.
• Don't borrow someone else's brand - the best person to be, is you.

When you feel you've sufficiently mapped out this process - consider building a personal mission state and begin implementing the process with action.

• Clearly and consistently communicate those points across all platforms.
• Execute your consistent message via online and offline means.
• Look for opportunities to establish yourself as a thought leader.
• Find peers in field - learn and grow from their experiences. Be a mentee/protegee.
• Discover your circle of influence and consider offering yourself as a mentor.

Two final thoughts on the importance of your personal brand - say what you mean, mean what you say. Live it out, repeatedly.

Airline Humor for Friday

Terry Maxon, a report for Dallas News, shared three 'Idle Thoughts' in his column (http://bit.ly/AgFT2S) this morning. Two thirds of which were airline related. The best - in my honest opinion - was the third:

"I was going to write a book about what a great business the airline industry is, but I couldn't get past Chapter 11."

Thanks for the levity, Mr. Maxon.

Check up on Check-ins!

What's Foursquare? It's a social platform known to its users for check-ins, specials, mayorships, badges and more. Foursquare is considered a geolocation application and has taken the social and smartphone world by storm!

Still curious? Enjoy this quick and simple video that breaks down the fundamentals of the application for newbies:

Before you get started with Foursquare, peruse this USA TODAY blog to get clued in on safe and secure use of geolocation apps.

To get started with check-ins -download the application to your smartphone, set up an account, and start exploring your local community, favorite businesses and destinations you're traveling to for discounts, coupons, and more on Foursquare.

Check out check-ins, it's worth it!

Pining for Pinning

The latest social media creating a stir with social networkers? That would be Pinterest. What is Pinterest? The site which is nearly a year post-beta, self-describes as a "virtual pinboard." Essentially users are socially sharing photos (called pins) they find across the web with their followers on virtual boards they create and customize to their liking.

There are countless, creative ways to organize pins on your boards to share your interests and tell your story. A couple of my favorite examples include both individual and enterprise pins. Speaking of a couple - what a loving and lovely example using pins to share the story of a successful marriage proposal! And, these SxSW survival guide pins from advertising agency, GSD&M are clever, useful and well-executed.

A word of caution - like any other social network - avoid out-and-out self promotion. It's still about being social, and not about broadcasting your brand. So, how can you use pins to enhance the context of your online community and brand story?

• Follow other users. Comment on and like the pins of users that are in your other social networking communities and new users, too.
• Generically speaking, pin images that are complimentary to your business, products and services.
• Obviously, use keywords in your tags to describe the images your pinning as they relate to your business, products and services.
• Customize your board names to reflect what's important to you and about you as a brand.
• Is there content on your website that you want to make shareable? Consider adding the "pin it" plugin to your site.
• If you can, go "behind-the-scenes" at your company and share photos of the experience. Your followers will enjoy seeing aspects of your business operations that aren't immediately obvious to them when they patron your business.
• Did you know you can pin videos, not just static images?
• Give credit, give credit, give credit! But, don't pin copyrighted images.

Before you get started with individual or enterprise pinning, educate yourself on snags that you may run into. Pinterest even offers idiot-proof etiquette recommendations for users. Are there copyright concerns with pinning and socially sharing other people's photographs and work? Of course there are! A recent post on Hubpages gives a clear explanation of the dangers and what to be alert for when you're pinning. It is a tenuous balance that all users (both individual and enterprise) need to be cognizant of in order to pin safely and avoid litigation.

Will we be pining for social pinning long-term? Only time and pins will tell...