“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” Steve Jobs

It’s my own fault for traveling to almost exclusively capital cities but my entire time in Europe has been a sport in avoiding tourists. Here inside the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, I don’t know why I find myself surprised that so many visitors spend longer reading the descriptions, listening to their audio guides and playing on their cellphones than actually seeing the art. I keep getting run over.

You can view these pieces online, in books, and likely, even on television if you catch the right program. Why go to a museum? Is it just something to do? The acquisition of ticked boxes that make individuals feel like they are feeding themselves culture. Providing postcard and dinner fodder? They jump from one famous piece to another, quickly brushing by the rest. Do these individuals view these heralded artists because they have been told they are of importance?

Do these individuals not have interest in the artist’s journey? The general public seems to have an affinity for mankind’s (and other kind’s) journey and development when you apply this idea to film or literature. Is it our own fault for not teaching art like we teach literature? What about the artist has earned them such notoriety for their work? Do these individuals realize that they are even cheating their experiences? Does it even matter? Their dollars (euros, in this example) still help the museum survive. Is this why museums don’t seem to care?

I posted a quick tweet about my plans for the day on my way to the Van Gogh Museum and another notable Amsterdam museum, Rijksmuseum, responded to my comment about their current construction:

I responded that I could just save my visit for the next time I was in Amsterdam, when I could pay the same admission, and see much more of their collection, after their construction was completed in 2012. No response. It’s a bit frustrating when those who dedicate so much time, energy and passion to preserving and sharing some of the world’s richest media don’t even stand up for the experience and appreciation of it.

Perhaps this is a question, more largely, of differences in experiencing media. If you still purchase and read print books, are you more likely to spend twice as long or at least have a focus on the art, while in museums? How about in comparison to individuals who are strictly bound to their Kindle and mp3s? These experiences are very personal for some and less for others. Is there any correlation with media delivery or consumption?

The two men sitting on either side of me are both reading their Facebook News Feeds on their iPhones. Maybe this is why Van Gogh escaped to the countryside. An appreciation for the simple and a lack of distraction from relatively meaningless interactions.

Wednesday, March 23 was my last day as an employee of Engauge. It was a friendly parting. In short, it wasn’t the best fit for either one of us. Nothing but happy thoughts. What have I been doing since this separation? Relaxing. Refocusing. It’s been lovely.

Jeff Hilimire, Engauge’s Chief Digital Officer, who recruited me and ran the Digital Innovation Group, once called me a free spirit. These feelings are echoed in a few blog posts published on my personal blog back in February when I hit a particularly frustrating block at work. I’ve since readdressed these frustrations and testaments to decipher the “why”. What caused this position and how could I avoid falling back into it moving forward? By making a few changes.

The Non-Traditional (aka “Scary”) Approach

My friends and family know I haven’t exactly taken a traditional or safe approach to life to date.

Some examples:
- I dropped out of six Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate courses my senior year of high school to accept a Marketing Coordinator position in the music industry, opting to complete a GED instead of graduating.
- I co-founded and lead marketing initiatives for a nationally distributed record label through eleven albums at nineteen years old.
- I became a certified lifeguard with no previous non-recreational swimming experience.
- I recently drove 5000 miles by myself across 32 states and Canada during two weeks of deep winter.

These are the stories that typically gain me incredulous stares, admiration or eye-rolling. Who does these things? Plenty of people. I’m by no means alone in my drive or impulse. The more I read of others’ similarly atypical experiences and lives, the more I want to pursue myself. Commence the finger pointing at Tim Ferriss, Chris Guillebeau, and the like.

Adventures Ahead

What’s next? A voyage towards finding my best fit. How do I do this? Stop taking the safe approach. Begin taking bigger risks. Stop doing what people tell me I should be doing. Do what is best for me. I’m starting with a one-way plane ticket to Spain. I have family in Barcelona I have never met and hear it is a fantastic city, especially for young people. From there, I have allocated roughly the following five months to cities around Europe and Asia, with possible stops in Jordan, Canada and the States.

For Hire

I plan to pursue remote contract and freelance projects to fund my travels, in addition to my initial fund. See LinkedIn and my bio for information on my experience and qualifications. References are available.

Examples of contract/freelance work you could hire me for:
- Strategy (digital, social, mobile, search, experiential)
- Creative (user experience, copywriting, web design)
- Development (front-end, blogs, soon: iPhone)
- Social Media (analytics, research, process, infrastructure/workflow)
- Publicity (blogger outreach)

I intend to only take on a maximum of two projects at a time, dependent on scope, and must be able to work remotely. This is to ensure I can deliver quality without latching myself to a 9-5 or 40 hour working week, as that would cheat my adventure. I am open to brands, agencies, startups and local businesses alike. I want to help you achieve your goals while pursuing my own.

I may be crazy. I may run out of money. I may never come back. I may find my best fit. I’m working on the logistics right now of what to do with my car, apartment, and expenses. I’m very excited to begin this adventure because as the saying goes, even if I fall short, I haven’t landed in a terrible place. At any point, I am free to stop. I can go back to Atlanta. I can pursue a new home. I can commit to new directions.

Per Jeff’s blog post earlier this week, I’m sharing what I have on my iPhone home screen at the moment. It’s a small miracle I have notifications on this screenshot. I’m highly distracted by notifications so I do my best to keep them clear or out of sight.

Home Screen

iCal: So I have some idea of what is going on when and where.

Clock: Mostly use for the alarm and world clock.

Maps: I use almost exclusively to see where traffic is. I prefer HopStop for directions. Rarely need directions/map when in Atlanta.

Camera: I use the camera often in place of note taking. Miss my iPhone 4 camera (currently on 3GS) and will probably use more often when I upgrade to the 5.

Settings: Need readily available for wifi on/off, adjusting brightness, etc.

Pulse News: A really awesome app that makes reading RSS feeds more enjoyable. Beautiful aesthetics.

Twitter: With three accounts I update regularly, this is a necessity. Trying the official app right now but likely to be moving back to Twittelator Pro which has been my favorite Twitter app to date.

Instagram: One of my current addictions. Great photo filters and the self-contained community is a huge turn-on.

Wikipanion: I don’t know what I would do without this app. Great for looking up unfamiliar ingredients in restaurants, settling debates over coffee/drinks, and passing time in traffic/lines.

TeuxDeux: My primary GTD app. Very clean and quick. Made by the lovely Swissmiss. I use for everything from grocery lists to work projects.

Boxcar: Streamlines notifications from a number of my social networks, all in a single place.

foursquare: My location-based app of choice. The recent 3.0 release has even renewed my interest in their points system and I love their new system of rewarding points. It now shows me the last time I visited a location, checked in with a particular friend, etc. Much more enriching.

Last.fm: Eat it Pandora, Slacker Radio, and the rest. Last.fm learns from YOUR listening habits and makes recommendations based on the listening patterns of the community at large with consideration to your likes and dislikes. It’s basically the Amazon Recommendation Engine of music. Nobody else compares.

Scoutmob: Best deal app on the block. In tune with your city versus the Groupon’s and LivingSocial’s of the deal world. You also have no upfront cost!

Foodspotting: Another obsession of late. Only weaknesses are the GPS, database lookup, and Atlanta food guides.

Untappd: I’m a huge beer fan, especially microbrews. In the past year, there have been a number of beer tracking apps entering the market and Untappd is currently leading the race. It gives recommendations on similar beers, see what your friends are drinking and which beers you drink most often. Big annoyance: It’s a web-based app so often slow or hard to connect dependent on service.

DOCK

Messages: My #1 most used app. I’m a huge fan of SMS notifications for everything from banking to offer notifications.

Phone: I hate it but it’s a necessity. I primarily use Google Voice but not to the level it makes my dock. It’s located on the second screen.

Mail: Five different email accounts. It’s a miracle I have no notification currently on this icon.

Safari: A mobile browser is a must-have. I’ve recently started playing around with Opera Mini for iPhone as well which may take the place of Safari in the coming months.

I created this for the team at Engauge but received many requests to share. Hope this gets you started and let me know if you have any questions! See you at SXSW.

—
Update 3/4/2011: Slideshare has featured my presentation on their How-To & DIY page. Thanks guys.
Update 3/5/2011: It is now one of the most tweeted presentations and featured on the front page! Thanks again.

Boxee is on a roadtrip en route to SXSW (that’s like the thing to do now apparently) and my agency, Engauge, is hosting their Atlanta meetup!

We’re coming to Atlanta on our way to SxSW.

We’d love to meet up and talk with users and developers. We’ll give an update about where Boxee is, and where we are headed, but hope to spend most of the time talking with you, answering questions, and generally having a good time meeting new people . We can talk about Boxee, movies, music, beer, art, programming, entrepreneurship, coffee…. we’re open to pretty much anything.

RSVP and come hang out.

Once we pick a venue and time, we’ll email everyone who’s RSVP’d to let you know the time and place.

**UPDATE – The good folks at Engauge have been kind enough to let us use their offices for the meetup. Check out the location to the bottom right. Light food and drink will be provided.

The event is next Wednesday, March 9 from 7-10pm at the Engauge office in Midtown Atlanta. RSVP here and see you soon.

This week I attended my fourth Social Fresh conference, back in it’s home market of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Many of the usual suspects were present including Amber Naslund of Radian 6, Bert DuMars of Newell-Rubbermaid, and Zena Weist of H&R Block.

This was my first Social Fresh not speaking or moderating and I have to say it was a pleasure to be able to focus solely on absorbing everything around me including meeting some smart people such as Shawn McPike of AT&T and David Thomas of SAS (now New Marketing Labs).

Amber, far and away, had not only the most aesthetically pleasing presentation (with Jay Baer who wasn’t able to attend in person) but some killer takeaways for the entire audience.

Below are two key discussions I felt deserved specific attention and I’ve embedded the full presentation beneath them, if you’d like to view it in greater depth.

TODAY’S CULTURE
It is now pivotal to integrate into company culture:

• Solidarity of purpose
• Demonstrated trust
• Laboratories & feedback loops
• Diversity of people & ideas
• Reward systems

TODAY’S TALENT
We need to be taking an attribute trait approach to hiring and looking for talent with:

• Curiosity
• Enthusiasm
• Innovation
• Motivation
• Collaboration
• Translation (speak both the language of the C-Suite and those you hope to be getting on-board internally)
• Humility (drop the ego)
• Awareness

Working aggressively within your career at a young age provides some unique challenges, being young in general offers it’s own healthy chunk, and a hard to satiate drive poses a number of decisions.

In my late teenage years and early twenties, I wanted to love my job. I was working in the music industry on everything I could get my hands on. Eager to explore and learn. Big eyed, though not blind, to how “business works.” I have very clear memories of going to the Cotton Club (RIP) and attending every show they hosted for months, regardless of whether I was familiar or even interested in the artist or band. I would stand in different areas of the crowd and venue to observe how the audience interacted, looked, smelled, spoke. Are they alone or with a friend? Are they here with their mother? Are they pretending they know the words and singing along? How long has it been since they washed that shirt? How much of the artists’ catalog were they familiar with? I engrossed myself in consuming this database in my mind. To this day, I can predict the audience — who the bulk and one-off’s will be — for pretty much any concert. Working within the music industry directly with artists’ fans allowed me to tap into this database and both market and communicate with them, in accordance with the unique characteristics of each group.

I hit a point in my mid-twenties where I was looking for something a little different but wasn’t quite prepared to make a drastic change (like the move to New York I am still planning). After much thought and discussion, I have chosen to leave THINK and join the Digital Innovation Group at Engauge. THINK has been quite the ride and I’m happy to know I have had real impact on the agency as a whole and it’s social offerings. I will miss (and be calling) many faces from here. My decision to join Engauge was spurred around a need I’ve identified, to work on a team of smart people who live and breathe social and other new technologies, dedicated to innovation in raw form. I miss the ability to really dig in and engross myself in that knowledge acquisition and sharing. Since social has taken a more mainstream role in marketing, I have felt a bit stagnant in the learning process and feel there is much left to learn. I’m quite excited to see what they have in store for me!

As a follow-up to Outside.in’s “Bloggers We Love” series, Esther collected a great piece on Top 10 Time Management Tips.

My contributions to her top ten list:

3. BLOGGER, PING THYSELF

“Schedule time to write. Set yourself reminders to blog, follow-up on emails, gather multimedia and contact sources. I have Remember The Milk send me text message reminders!”

- The über-experienced blogger Tessa Horehled of Drive A Faster Car

1. NO EXCUSES

“There’s never time and always something else going on. You have to make it!”

- Tessa Horehled of Drive A Faster Car

The full list of tips include:

10. Plan Ahead
9. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
8. Guest Bloggers!
7. Go Organic
6. Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff
5. Unplug & Recharge
4. Take The Show On The Road
3. Blogger, Ping Thyself
2. Live, Love, Blog
1. No Excuses

Check out the full blog post for details on each.

It is now possible to link your official Twitter account to your business’ Facebook Fan Page. What this essentially means is that you are now able to post to Facebook and Twitter at the same time.

While cross-posting is efficient for busy small teams and large organizations alike, I very strongly feel this is a spammy practice and should be avoided in most situations. Facebook and Twitter are very different platforms and users interact and communicate on each of the platforms in very different ways. These differences call for, at minimum, tweaked language per platform. Would you use the same copy for radio and television? Banner ads and text ads? Email campaigns and printed flyers?

If you would like to connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts:

1. Visit http://www.facebook.com/twitter/

2. Select “Link To Twitter” next to the Fan Page you would like to connect with. You must have admin privileges to do this.
3. It will redirect you to Twitter where you will need to log in under the Twitter account you would like to connect to the Facebook.

4. You will then be redirected back to Facebook and receive a confirmation of the link creation.

Note: Facebook has a built-in option for you to undo this connection if you should need to do so.

Do you cross-post your content? Why or why not? Do you feel Facebook integrating this new feature will turn off Fan Page fans or Twitter followers from the brands they connect with?