m2h blogs by Marcia Hansen

• A couple business colleagues took me out to lunch today to Bob-Chinn’s Crabhouse. I was really surprised at how good the food was–especially considering how far Illinois is from any sea. I chose the Florida Grouper for lunch, and the taste had me going “Mmmm” from the first bite to the last. It was as good or better than any I’ve had in Florida.
• I am also surprised at how much I’m enjoying green smoothies these days. Tonight I blended a little apple juice, 1/2 banana, 1/2 pear, and 1/2 bag of organic baby spinach. I love how it looks — bright green — and I love how it tastes. Yum! Who knew!?!

What else am I enjoying?

• Clothes/Jewelry from Chico’s — So many bright colors and patterns. On. Sale. If I was married, I’d be embarrassed to walk in the house with yet another Chico’s bag. However, one of the joy’s of being single is not having to explain–you see, I had this great coupon off of the sale price…. However, I do admit that it is about time that I have a talk with myself!
• Merle Norman Soft Touch Eye Pencils — They are so creamy going on. I can get a thin subtle line or that smoky smudged look really easily.

What else is working for me?

• 20 minutes on/20 minutes off — work a while, play for a bit. I’ve been able to make more progress at getting necessary household chores done without it seeming like such a big deal. I won’t go so far as to say it’s been fun, but definitely more manageable!

What’s working for you? Or, what seems like less work these days? Any new food addictions?

Wondering if I confused Tim Berners Lee with Tim O’Reilly in a talk I gave at work. Stumble out of bed, check preso. Whew. I’m good.

So, what now? why not blog? It’s as good a time as any to write here in this space. Finally. It’s been so long since my last post. I’ve thought about blowing the thing up. It’s not all that…just random musings, curiosities, notes. Who is my audience? What do they want to read? What do I want to write about? or share? I’m liking Twitter these days. Only 140 characters. Less space to fill.

Random surfing commences. Read How to Blog. Find another pearl from Merlin.

LOL. Laughter feels so good. Maybe now I’ll be able to sleep.

More soon.

Hi, I have good news! I want to let you know about a project I’ve been managing that just launched last week. It’s called CoberTOUR(sm). CoberTOUR(sm) is an educational tool that will (hopefully!) help people learn more about insurance coverages. Since December, Allstate has had the English version of the tool, Bumper-to-Bumper Basics(sm) accessible via the website. However, this revised tool offers transculturated information in Spanish.

Users of CoberTOUR(sm) can get an overview of insurance coverages in their state or dive deeper and learn even more about particular coverages. Plus, there are also example stories about how people may use particular coverages, which I think are helpful. Plus, people who are bilingual can switch from Spanish to English or visa versa.

Initial internal feedback has been positive. However, if you have time to check it out, please let me know what you think. It’s been so much fun working on such an interactive product that is also educational. I learned a bunch about insurance in the process and from the project team that transculturated the content, did the video shoot, and developed the technical pieces — they were all fantastic (and so nice about my broken Spanish).

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to explain what is happening with social media to people who don’t know much about it.

Social media are blogs, videos, podcasts, forums, and all the social networking sites. But, it’s more than just the specific product that’s produced. It’s people having conversations about their interests. It’s companies trying to get you to spend time and contribute and engage with them. It’s not just online. Sometimes it’s online plus a f2f meetup. It’s UGC (user-generated content) and WOM (word of mouth) sharing. It’s buzz. It’s more than buzz. Plus, there are all the companies and technologies that help others make the most of their social media sites (search, stats, etc.). Getting all of these things going in a meaningful way is not an easy undertaking.

I really admire what Southwest is doing with their site, Nuts About Southwest. I’ve read their blog for a while, and really enjoy the diverse posts. However, I clicked over to their site and discovered that I’ve been missing a lot by only reading it in RSS.

In addition to the blog, they now have sections for flickr images, video images, polls, corporate news, and official media. All of these different sections provide different looks at Southwest as a company. Instead of just a blog, Nuts About Southwest is now an interactive media portal.

I’m accustomed to seeing the big media sites (cnn, espn, etc) offer different types of content, but now that I’m back in corporate, there are many times when I’m really impressed at the great diversity of content being produced (or collected/aggregated) by companies whose primary mission is other than media.

I also couldn’t help thinking about how it would be fun to structure a class around creating a site like this one and discussing all the issues that go into it. From branding, to generating conversations and marketing, to legal issues, etc., etc. and a ton more on the back end.

I’m curious….what corporate blogs/social media sites are your favorites? why?

I came across the following quote by John Burroughs quite by accident. It expresses just what I’m feeling today.

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see. ~ John Burroughs

And, the top result just a moment ago for “life” at flickr, was this picture.

Whenever synchronicities such as this occur, I feel amazed.

These are flowers I’ve planted on the back patio. I’m loving the colors!

So much has happened since I posted last. I’ve accepted a full-time job with Allstate as a Marketing Manager, with responsibilities in social media, community management, and project management of interactive web projects. It’s really a fabulous job that draws on the expertise I’ve developed over the past few years.

I’ve also moved to Wheeling, IL. For those of you not familiar with northern Illinois, it’s a northwest suburb of Chicago. I’ve discovered that the people here are so nice and friendly. My mom was here for a few days to help me unpack and she remarked on it too. Plus, living here is a breeze of a commute. It’s wonderful being so close to work.

The weather was beautiful today on the last day of May. Any callers this afternoon had to endure voicemail, as I was out enjoying the day on my motorcycle. 150 miles of sunshine, lake views, beautiful houses, and waving to other bikers. I had a fabulous time.

And, it’s time to close for now. I promise not to let so much time pass before posting again. Hope you’re all doing well!

Listening to books in the car is one of the best things I’ve done lately to make my less than desirable, or “frog,” commute more bearable. Most recently, I’ve been listening to Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy. I have to say, what a great book! His voice is pleasant to listen to, and he has an appealing message.

#1 Tip to Get More Done: Finish your most important task first and completely, and do it well. In other words, eat the biggest, ugliest frog first.

Eat that Frog: Tackle difficult projects first.
My most difficult project is too big to eat with just one bite, so I’ve been practicing this principle by doing small things every day to wack it down to size. I’m surprised by what I’m accomplishing. It’s working. The ugliest frog is looking prettier every day! I’m also really amazed at my increased energy level and declining stress levels by taking small actions every day on this ugly frog of a project.

I also love Eat That Frog! because of the title. A few years ago, I did my first experiment with the Law of Attraction. I decided to attract more frogs into my life. You know, it could have been parachutes, pinatas, or parakeetes, but I chose frogs just as an easy experiment to show myself that the Law worked. I set an intention and waited for the Universe to do its work. Soon I started to see frogs everywhere…on t-shirts, on commercials, and once while shopping with my Mom in a department store, I saw an entire row of frog socks! Now, whenever I see a frog, I am reminded that Divine order is at work in my life.

Since reading Tracy’s book, I am also reminded that my “frogs” (difficult projects) may be ugly, but the toughest challenges are also part of Divine order. Frogs can be opportunities to learn and grow. They teach us what we need to learn on our path. Of course, it’s more difficult to remember this fact when in the midst of things.

It’s also interesting to me that none of my most difficult projects are found at work. Instead, they are all projects or goals that I’ve set for myself personally. (More evidence that I’m harder on myself than others….but, that’s a topic for another post!)

Now, I’m not exactly wishing for more ugly frogs, and I’m still working on not letting my frog of a drive get to me, but I’m getting more done while less stressed about all I still want to accomplish.

I came across the website for This I Believe today. It’s really an extensive website that offers essays by many different people who discuss one of their core beliefs. There is Spanish content, podcasts, and even audio recordings from the original 1950’s version of the text. Fabulous!

I noticed that RealGames has partnered with Beliefnet to provide games that “stimulate the mind, challenge the spirit, and soothe the soul.” It’s heavy on the marketing language, but I did click over to play their memory game. The non-digital version (back in the old days) — was it called concentration??

Where do I look for research along the lines of games and building awareness, generating engagement, and building loyalty?

Tonight on the way home, I saw some of the biggest snowflakes I’ve ever seen. And, it’s still snowing hard, as you can see in the photo below.

You can also check out the other snowy night scene photo I took this evening in the flickr badge to the right…