As I continue to ponder my place in the blogging world — a world I love to get lost in — this quote resonates so closely to what I want to convey in my little corner of the world.
Because with all of this talk of social media and the miracle that it is for business (I use the word ‘miracle’ facetiously) and personal branding, at the end of the day these are human interactions. It is our humanity that moves the needle forward — a little at a time. With all of our tweets and status updates, pictures and connections, I want us to recognize that ‘transparency’ is just a buzz word. What we really want is honesty and authenticity and humanity and, even a little vulnerability. We are not connecting because we are fabulous. We are connecting because we are real. We are flawed. We NEED each other. We learn and grow from and support each other. We challenge each other. The tools have changed. There is more possibility for connection. The conversations might be bigger. But we are still perfectly imperfect humans.
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I really need to get more involved in the blogging community that surrounds me here in Minneapolis.
I went to Cisco LIVE this year to support my company and learn a bit more about the business.
It’s always an adventure to get out of the cubicle and into the crowd. I got to talk to and goof around with a lot of Cisco-certified folks, and they’re all a blast.
Of course, being surrounded by fun at the end of the day is always a bonus, right? A few of us were dismissed a little early one evening to go check out the World of Solution exhibition hall.
Marilyn Monroe told me that I could totally pull off her look. Maybe I shall someday… Halloween is a-comin’.
While Casey got addicted to Splinter Cell…
Tiffany and I went to the store’s photo booth.
Booth babes. It’s too bad Tiffany hammed it up behind them, so the girls probably thought I was giggling at them. I’m sure they’re over it. (They’re probably not over it.)
I took this photo before the signs to “not sit on the letters” appeared. Sorry, but it’s a good photo op!
The next night we hung out with some Cisco authors. They’re only ridiculously smart, no big deal…
One of them wanted to practice with my D-SLR, so I let him. I supervised the whole time.
Group shot! My awesome coworkers and me.
And what’s a conference without a crazy theme party?
Side note: it was completely awesome.
Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra was like being inside a Rock Band game.
Standing next to this gal did not help my self-esteem, but it was still cool to see her up close. So much bling!
Blues Brothers!
And Elvis! Cisco brought all of the sightseeing to its attendees, which I can appreciate.
And Smash Mouth, but this is when we pooped out.
Okay, one last photo op…
And, somehow, our last day of work came and went so quickly. It was a blast. I’d easily do it all over again!
