Daniel Johnson, Jr.

I can’t remember exactly what year it was; in many ways, it seemed like it was last week. The crowd was… a mixture of people. I may have been the only one who got to see all of the sessions. The best thing about it was that it was FREE. It’s the Pixelated conference, or, as others have called it… Conference in a Box. Some of these are organized around a theme. The ones I attended relate to communication and telling interesting, compelling stories.

And it’s free for you, too. You see, this particular conference is being held online. RIGHT NOW. In this blog post. Grab some popcorn, sharpen your pencils, and get ready to learn! (more…)

Image via Wikipedia

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to ya! I’ve been thinking about today’s post for many weeks now, as I’ve had reminders going off in my Google Calendar and noticed the upcoming draft post in the Editorial Calendar here on this blog.

Luck is a tricky thing to consider. It seems random, as though the luck came out of nowhere, honoring its recipient with fortune.

No, I don’t believe in leprechauns. I don’t believe the Irish are more lucky than anyone else.

Let me leave you with some quotations that have piqued my thinking about this recently. Most of them come from my latest favorite book for 2011, Dan Miller‘s “No More Mondays” (affiliate link):

• “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” — Seneca, via The Quotations Page
• “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” — Alan Kay, via No More Mondays p. 216
• “We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. But it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents.” — Eric Hoffer, via No More Mondays, p. 225
• “The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.” — Benjamin Disraeli, via No More Mondays, p. 240

Related articles

• How to Get to Genius (jamesthornton.com)
• Who Are The Experts? (socialmediaexplorer.com)
• Leprechaun Luck (idontknowaboutyoubut.wordpress.com)
• Irish Blessings to all! (swoolard79.wordpress.com)
• Made in America: St. Patrick’s Day (orangemous.wordpress.com)

If you liked this post, click here to share it with your network!

Want to read more like this from Daniel Johnson, Jr.? If you do, subscribe right now!

 Get via Email   Add to Google   Subscribe to the Feed

Imagine if you woke up one morning, and your hearing was gone. Would you be able to listen with your eyes and other senses?

Learn To Read People

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated with how we communicate. It probably goes back to my time an awkward, insecure kid, looking for as many ways I could relate and understand people better. At a book fair in fifth grade, for example, I got a book about handwriting analysis; i.e., what our handwriting tells us about ourselves.  In junior high school, I read a book called Face Language, which talked about how you can discern things from people from their faces. There was another book, I think, called Body Language.  Suffice it to say, I’ve been a lifelong student of reading people. I’m still learning.

Listen With Your Eyes

Have you ever heard of method acting? Many actors, in preparing for a role, do things to put themselves in situations like the characters they are portraying. Francis Ford Coppola wanted Matt Dillon to understand what life in jail was like. To help prepare him for his role as “Dallas” in “The Outsiders“, Coppola had him spend the night in jail.

This past Saturday, my family and I went to the “All About Deaf Kids Fair” at Cincinnati Christian University, put on by the Deaf Institute, and it was a great time.  The theme was how we communicate in ways that are not just with our ears. They even had earplugs that us hearing people could wear to force us to “hear” with our eyes more. (more…)

Image by danieljohnsonjr via Flickr

Organizing New Media Cincinnati events has been something that I’ve grown into, ever since the very first one in October 2007. I sincerely appreciate the NMC Steering Committee members who have been volunteering their time to help make New Media Cincinnati the best version of itself in the area that it can be, and I hope the community can feel their influence and impact.

Back in 2007, these events initially were extremely informal meetups where we’d let people know we were meeting and would see who’d show up. Eventually, we began having more structure around a certain topic, and it gave me a chance to explore different sorts of events. Some of these were conducted well, and these were certainly some great learning experiences.

I’ve been thinking about different types of events I’d somehow like to be involved in, whether organizing, running, or just participating. (more…)

Image by Abraxas3d via Flickr

Sometimes when I look at a problem, I might see many paths and be able to pick the right one. Many times, I look at all the options and decide to just pick one and move forward, learning as I go. My friend Jon Swanson has felt the same way.

I consider my work in social media much of learning by doing, as I go. The process isn’t always pretty. I step on toes. I sometimes don’t know everything that I’m talking about and need to correct.

That’s part of my commitment with what I produce on this blog this year; I’m going to ship. I’m looking at what I write as works in progress. Maybe what I’ll share is a complete thought; maybe it won’t be.

I have noticed, over the past nine years, that the more I blog, the easier it is to see trends and patterns emerging and how to act upon them.

My process ain’t always pretty, but it gets the job done.

Some business decisions need to be made like this, too.

Learn as you go. Tweak as needed. Learn from mistakes. Keep on going.

That sort of thing.

Let the journey continue…

UPDATE: My friend Christopher Penn wrote a great post that talks about how most of the lessons he’s had to learn or teach himself were not explicit lessons through handy worksheets and structured exams. Check it out.

Possible related articles

• How Social Media Can Get You a Job (socialmediatoday.com)
• imabonehead: A Brief Guide to Learning Faster (and Better) ” Scott H Young (scotthyoung.com)
• I hate communication. (levite.wordpress.com)

If you liked this post, click here to share it with your network!

Want to read more like this from Daniel Johnson, Jr.? If you do, subscribe right now!

 Get via Email   Add to Google   Subscribe to the Feed