CNotes

Here we go ...

well, I've been talking about starting a blog for a long, long time. so, here it is ... my plan for topics includes:

• Cause Branding
• Community
• Creativity
• and, other topics that start with "C"

I look forward to our conversations and hope you find CNotes a place to talk about the things you care about. xoxo ~

Chillaxin'

Ok, so I don't really love that term, but sometimes this "C" thing gets hard.

I traveled a good portion of late Sept. & nearly all of Oct. I'm looking forward to a weekend where the Hub & I have few to no obligations to anyone else. So, this means serious cleaning, decorating for Thanksgiving (I have GOT to into the holiday spirit - I LOVE Thanksgiving which my birthday is always near) and catching up.  I have so much to be thankful for - I don't have the discipline to journal, but I do enjoy waking up on Thanksgiving morning and making a mental list of all that I'm thankful for ... this year will be a long one.

A run or two, with a Weight Watchers meeting in the mix for the weekend.  When I get so crazy tired (and, when I'm tired, I'm not nice) I have to remember what my WW leader always says, "The opposite of crazy isn't vegging or being a sloth, it's pleasure." So, since this month will hopefully slow down, maybe I'll get to indulge a bit on a few of my favorite things, like a date w/ the Hub, reading, catching up with friends and Christmas shopping.

Am looking forward to a month of no travel, except to KC for my birthday to see the Steelers v. Chiefs. (Feel bad that the Hub's team is so bad this year, but it will be fun)  Then, AAR in OKC and Mom & Dad are coming for a Thanksgiving visit.

Oh, and it's T-minus 5 days, 7 hours & 54 minutes until Glee.  Not that I'm counting or anything. Probably a whole post on that show coming up soon. 

Change

Short & cranky post today.

Change is constant. Blah, blah, blah. And, usually I'm all for change. I am often an agent of change. What I don't like is change for change's sake OR change that seems useless. Maybe this change isn't useless and benefits the greater good in some way of which I'm unaware.

I'm moving to my 8th desk in 4.5 years.  We've been through my clutter issues, so my desk doesn't look too hot. Moving every few months does give me an opportunity to get through the big clutter & purge, but it's not a good reason to move again.

I'm happy to be nimble & adaptable, but really, this is getting old. 

Conquerer

Meb Keflezighi won the NYC Marathonon Sunday with a time of 2:09:15 (a PR). The first American to do so in 27 years. 27 years? This is the race that used to be owned by Americans.  Not only did Meb finish first, Americans took 6 of the Top 10. Meb Keflezighi, though, lives the American Dream. 

Photo: New York Daily News

Born in 1975 in Eritrea (I feel old), Meb emigrated to Italy in 1986 and finally to the US in 1987.  His father had left their family in search of a better life for all of them in 1981. It took five years for the family to reunite.

His running success began in junior high and extended to a silver medal finish in the marathon in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.  After that amazing finish, Meb finished 2nd in the 2004 NYC Marathon. Sunday's race was also the US Men's Marathon Championship - a great coup for NYC Road Runners Club and the event itself. NYC Marathon is the world's largest marathon ... some 40,000 runners took the streets of the five boroughs of NYC. 

Photo: Runners World

Watching Meb cross the finish line on Sunday - speeding up and reacting to the crowd - was beautiful.  When he crossed the finish line with tears streaming down his face he paid tribute to Ryan Shay, a friend who died running the 2007 NYC Marathon at the age of 27. The 2007 race was the last time Meb ran in NYC where he also sustained a hip injury. 

Unfortunately, race-related comments that first surfaced when Meb won the silver in Athens have returned. There is a cadre of people who believe that since Meb wasn't born in the U.S. he doesn't represent us.  That's garbage. He is the product of US public school running from junior high through college at UCLA. He lives & trains in the U.S. How many generations does someone's family have to be in the U.S. to be American?  Last time I checked, becoming an American citizen qualified you as American.  Some of us are born here and some of us choose to become Americans. 

“U.S.A. gave me all the opportunities, education, sports, lifestyle,” Keflezighi said. “When you dream, you dream. You don’t give up.”

I don't think a full marathon is in my future, but never say never. And, congrats to Leslie Buford, a friend, who finished the 2009 ING NYC Marathon in 3:28:35. Yes, that's 7:58 per mile for 26.2 miles - 134 in age group, 591 woman, 4813 overall. Wow. Great job, Leslie!

Cardstock

So, there's no way around it. I LOVE paper - stationery, that is.  Monogrammed, thank you notes, you name it, I love it. And, I actually use it.

One of my favorite designers is Whitney English.  I bought her cards long before I knew her.  I like to count her as a friend ... we met several years on a Junior League committee. Whitney is a smart & generous business woman and I think it's really cool that she's based in OKC and chooses to stay here. I LOVE to find her stationery in random shops across the U.S.

She's also my technical support for this blog and really helped me get started. Thanks!  I wish I was ready to jump in w/ code & my own designs, but I'm not there yet.  Maybe one day. Maybe.

Whitney (or someone on her team) has reached out to a few bloggers to help spread the word about her ab fab designs & a there's a giveaway going on right now over at The Preppy Princess.  Leave a comment, tweet or blog about the giveaway & you can be entered in a drawing for WE products, specifically a Create Your Own Crest suite.  Fun, fun. Now, I'll receive another drawing entry for posting this, so maybe you shouldn't enter, since I plan to win, but what the heck ... click HERE to enter. Other fun stuff over at The Preppy Princess as well.

You can also buy WE online at LemonTreePaperie.com... full line available from invitations to notecards to calling cards and address labels.  Even the darling clipboards w/ notes featured in O! Magazine's  (yes, Oprah) October O List are available.  (Wouldn't it be REALLY cool if Ms. O gave away WE cards or something on the My Favorite Things giveaway?)

What WE invite will I use for my 8th annual cookie exchange?  I better decide soon. And, what cookies I should make, too.

Convergence

Last Saturday 4,000 women (and, a handful of men) converged on Kansas City for O You!  What's that? It's Oprah University, hosted by O! magazine. O You! is an extension of the magazine's mission to help you, "Live Your Best Life."

I like Oprah just fine, but I don't watch her show very often and only occasionally read her magazine.  I think she does an outstanding job of using her significant influence to guide people to positive actions and what she's done for reading in this country is simply phenomenal. But, I wondered, bringing people together for a day of recharge, personal development and fun? Who attends this event? (yes, I went for work.)

Well, I'll tell you ... it's women like you & me and a handful of boyfriends/husbands/fathers/guys. They travel in groups for a girls weekend from across the country to visit, learn, and enjoy from some of O! magazine's (and the show's) top contributing editors.  I saw Nate Berkus, Jim Karas, Ross Barton, Donna Brazile, Peter Walsh. And, missed Dr. Oz, Suze Orman (have seen her a few times before), Martha Beck and Stacy London.  What a fun day! Makeovers by sponsor, L'Oreal Paris ... food sampling from Soyjoy, Quaker, Truvia ... a nice to recharge and for sponsors to deepen their relationship with a group of women who have the opportunity to talk to their circle of influence differently.

So, while I went for work ... what did I learn?

Nate Berkus (decorating guy): Find inspiration and color in every day things. Use your living space to remind you of beautiful experiences in your life and don't be afraid to change it up. Also, Nate is incapable of cooking. He likened the questions he gets asked about where to start with decorating to how he would feel if someone asked him to cook dinner. And, that boy is cute.

Jim Karas (he's the diet & exercise guy): Eat breakfast. Stop drinking your calories (NO JUICE, 2:1 water to alcohol). All oil has 120 kcal/tsp. so don't use a heavy hand on the olive oil ("Shimmer & glimmer won't make you slimmer.) Consume more protein. NO CARDIO (as in repetitive, sustained) because bouncing is bad, can make you slump and increase injuries (whatever, I'm not giving up running) ... Use interval strength training to minimize injury, increase heart rate & flexibility and boost metabolism. NO CRUNCHES (use pilates and pilates based core strengthening exercises). SLEEP - lack of sleep causes decreased leptin (hormone that tells you when you're full) and increases grelen (hormone that says, FEED ME!)

Ross Burton (the makeup guy): After foundation, do your cheeks first. Too many women keep adding more blush after they do their eyes. If you do your cheeks first, you'll see the balance and won't want to add more color. Also, L'Oreal Paris telescoping mascara is a favorite. Don't be afraid to use fake eyelashes to go from day to night.  On foundation - have 2 shades in your toolkit. "Don't get caught in December with your July face." Berry is very in this season for lips.  If you're wearing a nude/neutral lip color, line your lips after lipstick. p.s. - Ross was born a St. Anthony Hospital in OKC - his grandparents live in OKC & Langston.

Donna Brazile (for O!, she's career gal): Ok, I'll admit, I was most looking forward to Donna Brazile. I LOVE HER. "Poker skill are transferable." Make a list of ALL of your accomplishments - it's longer than you think and will help you write your own mission statement. Make a list of ALL the people who have made a difference in your life & help you be the person you are today, Then, be that person for someone else. "Keep your carry-on baggage, just not the heavy stuff."

Peter Walsh (the organization &de-clutter guy): Clutter robs you of life. It takes up space and impacts you emotionally, socially, financially, psychologically, and spiritually.  "How is clutter an expression of priorities gone wrong?" Clutter is priority distraction. How do you start the declutter process? Envision the life you want and ask what you want from your living/working space. All clutter is not the same, there are two types: 1. Memory clutter (reminds you of important events, achievements, etc.) or 2. I might need it one day clutter (the fondue pot you never use, but just might one day - this example doesn't apply to me, but I do have 2 acrylic ice buckets that were gifts taking up space ...). Clutter keeps you out of the present - either tied to the past or dreaming of the future.

A few quotes from the day:

"Give what you have to someone else. It may be better than you think." - Martha Beck (life coach)

"Feeling good about the way look isn't a privilege, it's your right." - Stacy London (stylist)

"Don't want for someone else to lead you to your right life. It's your right - and responsibility - alone." - Martha Beck

"Don't ignore your inner voice. That guy feeling is your moral compass." - Jancee Dunn (journalist & ethicist)

So, O You! far exceeded my expectations.  I went for work to evaluate the event, but came home with so many applicable life lessons, opportunities, tip & tools.  Sponsor involvement was great, but not overwhelming. It was a day about inspiration, so a big shout out to everyone who inspires me - thank you.

Credible

So, marketers, word of mouth is #1 believed recommendation for brand/product trial.  Bloggers are a great source of WOM recommendations - amazing that I'll believe a blogger I've never met but followed for days/weeks/months/years and believe them before I believe ads. 

And, the FTC has noticed. So, now, bloggers must disclose any free product received whether for endorsement, reader incentives or testimonial.  I've written about this before, but really the landscape for enforcement here is complete chaos. There are some 5 million blogs ... some with hundreds of thousands of hits per day and some with zero. CNotes is somewhere in the middle of that, ok, well really towards the low end, but still ...

I've written on this topic before, however, I'm happy to disclose free product given to me for review at any time. Shoot, if someone wants to send me free product I'm interested, I'll happily review it. Truthfully. No guarantee of positive review. Because if you send me a product, you should be willing to run the risk that I won't like your product.  

As a marketer, I'm always willing to run that risk. So, now, I have to be sure that the bloggers we work with disclose our relationship and that we've asked them to try Sonic, or our Wacky Pack toys. Most already do, since we often offer My Sonic Cards as giveaways - I think it's probably hard not to disclose if you offer giveaways, where else would they come from?

I suppose it's different for different industries, but what I take serious issue with is the FTC's communications about fines for violating policy. While there's been some back tracking and saying that they're really after advertisers/marketers, not bloggers. Who gets fined? The blogger. (well, according the FTC the fine isn't true, but then why is it in the regulation?)

I work on the PR side of our business - blogger outreach is far more similar to traditional media pitching than it is advertising.  It's about building relationships with people who influence others to try your product.  In that same vein, we send journalists products to try or coordinate visits to Sonic. I believe the FTC policy is punitive to bloggers and new media pioneers.

We all know that I'm for governmental regulation in a lot of instances, but I'm not sure this is it. What about truly consumer-generated content when marketers haven't reached out to the blogger? I post reviews now & again and I can tell you right now that no company has reached out to me. If I find something I like, I'm going to share it here, on Twitter and Facebook and anywhere else I deem useful.

Read the regulation here. It's 81 pages. Beware. Thoughts?

Thoughts? Fast Company is covering the story well, as are other media outlets. We'll see what comes to pass because enforcement will be a nightmare. For the FTC, for bloggers and for marketers.

Commute

So, normally I listen to NPR's Morning Edition on the way to work and All Things Consideredon the way home. I stay up on current events - listen to balanced news coverage and get the quirky lifestyle stories only NPR offers.

This means, however, that I don't listen to a lot of music in the car.  So, post concert on Sunday, I'm fixated on The End, the Black Eyed Peas current CD.  And, I walked into work with a little more pep in my step after a little "Boom Boom Pow" and "Meet Me Halfway".  We'll see if U2 helps me wind down. I've always been this way ... I get fixated on a song/album/artist and play it to death.  iTunes is good for me that way - I usually keep my music at work on shuffle, so I'll hear something not on my current fixation.

As a teenager, I had a subscription to Rolling Stone and was very into music - preferably punk & new wave. I LOVED the Sex Pistols & the Clash, the Police, Duran Duran, Modern English, etc. Oh, I'd listen to other stuff, too, but that was the music I loved. Had the poster of Sting from Dune hanging on my wall - girls, you know the one. Since then, my interest in music has waxed and waned.

It seems like the Hub & I go to more concerts now than we used to - and, I'm glad. There's a real energy in hearing old & new songs live. Sometimes at U2 on Sunday I'd close my eyes, forget the spectacle for a few minutes and just listen.

Concerts

Last night the U2 360-degree tour came to Norman, Okla. GREAT SHOW. Period. The Black Eyed Peas opened up for them - I love the Peas. Love them. And, they sounded really good live.  I didn't realize how much each member of the band carried each song.  They played for about an  hour ... opened with Let's Get it Started and closed with I've Got a Feeling.

Fergie was great - sounded fantastic.  Surprisingly, the Hub & I heard live versions of My Humps twice this weekend. First was the Dan Band spoof (which was good) and second was the real version last night. Where is the Love?  is probably my all-time fave song of theirs and they performed it beautifully to 50K-plus people. (ask me later about the bimbos in the bathroom line who didn't know who the Peas were ... seriously.)

I've had an interesting & varied concert life since about the 8th grade. Seminal year for me & live music.  My parents flew me to Tallahassee to see the Beach Boys; my mom drove Gigi Hemela, Heidi Smith, a couple of other girls and me to Lakeland to see Duran Duran (for which we got in trouble for not leaving the concert at the appointed time); and, the Clash at the Jai Alai Fronton in Fern Park. (I'm pretty sure my parents had never heard of the Clash, otherwise I wouldn't have been allowed to go. My friend Amy Fawcett won tickets from a radio station b/c her uncle did the makeup or costume design for Star Wars). But, back to last night ...

It was a beautiful night for an outdoor show. Clean, crisp fall air. The set looked like a spaceship with open views to the whole stage.  The staged worked fine for the Peas, but a little before 9P when David Bowie's Major Tom began, the entire set came to life. The first few songs were from the latest CD - No Line on the Horizon ... Breathe, Get On Your Boots & Magnificent. Then, straight back 15+ years to Mysterious Ways.U2 bounced back between classics & new and made it work in ways that other bands can't.

Bono brought his commitment to eradicating poverty and injustice across the world to Norman. I'm willing to bet that a good portion of the people in the stadium had no idea who Aung San Suu Kyi is and that she's been under house arrest in her native Burma (Myanmar) since 1990. One of the most moving parts of the show is Walk On dedicated to Suu Kyi - concertgoers don masks of Suu Kyi and walk on the stage, filling the 360 circle around the band. 

My personal favorite U2 song, Sunday Bloody Sunday, was sung against the backdrop of images of election protests in Iran.  The song that many of us remember from the video of the concert at Red Rocks, with its roots in the violence of Ireland still holds true to today as peoples across the world use religion as a weapon to oppress and marginalize fellow human beings. I have seen this song performed one other time - at the Clinton Presidential Library opening - an acoustic set by Bono & the Edge. Both times it has been moving & amazing.

The first encore brought Desmond Tutu to the screen talking about people being ONE to fight injustice. And, that we are all the people who stand up against injustice when we see it - be it apartheid, slavery or another form of oppression.  Then, out comes the band to One leading into Amazing Grace and to Where the Streets Have No Name. The second encore ended with With or Without You (which was my 1988 prom theme, I think.)

19 songs - almost 2 straight hours and I could have listened to more.

Collecting

I just learned last night about one of the country's most amazing gifts of art that is really a gift to all people in the U.S.  Have you heard of the Vogels?

Dorothy & Herbert Vogel lived in New York. Both born in the in the first half of the 20th century (before WWII), they dedicated their married life to collecting contemporary art. What's so unusual about that?  The Vogels weren't wealthy by any standard of measurement. He was a lifelong civil servant with the postal service and she was a reference librarian at the Brooklyn library. They lived in a one-bedroom apartment and used only one salary for living expenses and spent the other salary building one of this country's most influential contemporary art collections.

They desired to gift their collection to the National Gallery of Art. The challenge? The National Gallery couldn't accept the entire collection - it's too vast.  So, beginning in 1992, the Vogels began to gift and loan key pieces of the collection to the National Gallery. That takes care of about 1,000 pieces. What about the rest? You see, the Vogels cotinued to collect.  So, together with the National Gallery, they developed The Dorothy & Herbert Vogel Collection: Fifty Works for Fifty States.  50 works from the Vogel collection would be gifted to a cultural institution in each of the 50 US states.

A documentary has been made about them and their collection. Check your local PBS listings to find Herb & Dorothy on your dial.

This gift is available for ALL OF US to share. In Oklahoma, the Vogel Collection is at the Oklahoma City Musuem of Art. Where is the Vogel Collection in your state?

The Vogels make you think about how you spend your money. What's important to you? As they say in the documentary, "You don't have to be a Rockefeller to collect art."

Covenant

On Saturday, I went to a wedding.  Nothing new there, except this one isn't recognized by the state of Oklahoma. Yep, you've probably figured out, this was a marriage by two friends of the same sex.

It was among the beautiful & love-filled weddings I've attended. Why? I'm guessing because it has a somewhat different meaning.  The invitation to celebrate this couple's love was based on their belief & desire to have their union supported & surrounded by friends and family.  While this doesn't sound terribly different from a traditional marriage between a man & a woman, the emphasis on community was. 

These two friends wanted to formalize their commitment to one another and invite their support as the couple begins their life together. It was beautiful.  They never thought they'd have the opportunity to wed, and while the state doesn't recognize the union, as the minister (UCC) said when he performed the ceremony, "Who cares?"

Now, I realize my friends will have to create additional legal documents that give them the same rights the Hub & I do with regard to community property, healthcare decisions and other life decisions. These rights were automatically granted to the Hub & me when we wed more than 13 years ago.

I'm glad to have been invited to this wedding and even more glad to have attended. I'm happy to support my friends as they travel down the long and beautiful road of wedded bliss. I was, and am, delighted to show them my support by affirming my affection for them & their relationship by attending their wedding.

I don't know why people are afraid to acknowledge the love women or men sometimes feel for one another. In my humble opinion, love should be encouraged wherever people find it and celebrated to the nth degree when it is found.