Social Media Diary 1 Year 1:The Beginning

In yesterday's blog post, I talked about living a quiet life and relishing only knowing a few people in my immediate physical circle. Moving to a new place and finding friends or social circles is not difficult but finding a connection with people does not happen often enough.   After all, cultivating a friendship takes time and gradual seed planting in varying degrees. Then...there was Twitter and I find myself popping in and out several times a day and enjoying the conversation and engaging with a like minded community. Soon enough, it started growing and is pleasantly encroaching on my real life. I was part of a Social Media panel in High Point University as a startup furniture manufacturer last April 2010 and was asked the perennial question, how much business have you gained from being on Social Media? We didn't launch SNUG yet so I couldn't answer that in a quantifiable amount. Most of the concerns are profit and bottom line, time, and who cares about what I'm doing?  All valid. After all, we are in business to achieve our goals and this is just one of the ways to communicate with the world and hopefully get there while having fun. Almost everyone spends a lot of time online these days and if we want to get our message out, this is just one of the ways. Tom Peters has a term for it, "the little big things".  Every little thing counts. I will share some thoughts on this towards the end of the series. My story is personal. I am not saying social media should be used in this manner but this is how I am engaging in it.  People ask, what do I say? Just be yourself and observe  proper conversation etiquette the way you do in real life and the rest will follow. At the panel,  I gave them a brief summary of the people I met so far and continue to communicate with and the wonderful experiences as a newbie to show its organic and viral nature. My personal and professional resource base has definitely expanded. I know more than I did a year ago. Is it useful information? It depends on how you use it. 

My first tweetup was in June 2009 with Charlotte locals and interior designers, @WandaSHorton of Interior Concepts by Wanda and @StarrMiller  of Starr Miller Interior Design. Since then, we've attended a few local events and meetings and Wanda and I have collaborated on a tabletop event last March 2010 that Starr invited her to be a part.  Please see photos below of the tabletop Wanda designed based on her Midsummer's Night Dream inspiration. I was thrilled that she used SNUG's Cocoon Chair, incorporating a contemporary organic chair into her elegant and gorgeous traditional setting. It was a chance for me to get a reaction from direct consumers and other designers about our chair pre launch. You can see Wanda's heartwarming post here. I am happy to say that Wanda and I have truly developed a friendship and we just did another tabletop event together a month ago! (more on this later)

first tweetup at The Tea House

Roger Horton, Roger's sister, Davetta Moore, Wanda Horton

I was in New York for two weeks last summer and tweeted up with @abcddesigns  (Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo) at 71 Irving Place Coffee and Tea Bar and @irwinfelddesign (Marcy Feld) at Isabella's. Sometimes, when you like the energy of a person online, you can bring it to the next level by meeting them in person especially when you find yourselves #just140it-ing all your exchanges too much. This is what happened with both ladies. I've long admired Amy's maximalist view on life despite her recent travails, find her bespoke stationery designs clever, and have tried and tested some of her family recipes before meeting her. By the time we finished sipping our coffee, she had convinced me to blog and when I did, she sent me ten blog header designs to choose from as a blogwarming gift! So overwhelmingly sweet!!!  It was so hard to choose which one, check them out! 

So are you FrouLaLaed  to death? Cause I was, in a massively good way!! Soon right after, one of my best girlfriends from the Philippines based in Dubai was asking on Facebook if I had any ideas for her wedding invitations. Of course, the first person that came to mind was Amy and so I introduced them via Facebook and through time zones and internet cables, they came up with these beautiful invites perfect for an island paradise wedding. You can see Amy's post on it here. 

I will end today's post with ABCD's inspirational and artistic handiwork. Tomorrow, I will tell you more about Marcy Feld---our beautiful friendship and their museum like midcentury modern gallery, Irwin Feld Design.