My new hashtag series sparked from a number of different places…
Beginning in October, I had the pleasure to doing 2 Instagram Meetups. One with NBCU’s Health Week. Another was an Instagram walk in Central Park with Estee Lauder using the hashtag #mysimplepleasures as the theme. Both had sparked my love for events, exploring, photography, and social media.
And finally, meeting with many people for informational interviews. The last one I conducted was with Monica Lo and Megan Nuttall who’s advice to “Do things that matter” has stuck with me ever since. Starting this series matters to me. I love creating new ideas and sharing what I’m most passionate about, social media.
Above all, lets just say I was recently left discouraged from doing the things that I know I’m capable of — there is nothing greater than proving people wrong and since then I am left with this reminder:
“The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.”
And with that I will leave you with my first of many #hashtag series. Enjoy!
The week started off with a class themed overload, just forewarned, but these contests, partnerships, and content finds just couldn’t be ignored. However, there’s more than just classes, I promise.
Here’s a few examples of partnerships and contests from my favorite brands, in addition to extra goodies I wanted to share with you all. Enjoy!
Of A Kind + General Assembly: Get Schooled Giveaway
I was first introduced to Of A Kind a few weeks ago, when I found out they were having an event at their limited time only Pop-Up store. While checking out the company I fell in love with the concept. It felt exclusive, like buying something truly unique. I saw this back to school set on the site before, which I loved and seemed like the only reasonable thing I could afford. However, I’m also one of those indecisive buyers. That’s why I’m glad I found this, and this is such a great partnership.
General Assembly: Private Class Giveaway
I’m not sure what the reason is for so many giveaways with General Assembly but I’m not complaining. Who wouldn’t want a private class. Keep ’em coming. You have my attention. I’ve enter to win both. Pick Me Please!
3rd Ward Brooklyn: Creative Speed Networking
Why must 3rd Ward be so far away. I’m in need of more class based companies in Astoria. This image instantly caught my attention first and then I looked at the description. Now that’s a creative event concept, especially since I don’t really like networking. This is a great solution; it’s quick, easy, and if it’s awkward you can move on in a few minutes.
Warby Parker Class Trip + American Express
This is simply well executed. More than anything, I love A.) A creative campaign or event and B.) Attention to detail. Check out thefull site to get the whole experience. My personal faves: Their Facebook Class Rep Video Contest & the on the road blog. Now I’m super bummed I missed out on NYC- I’m due for a new pair of glasses. These old ones need to get off my face immediately!
This contest works because it makes me realize how much I need to spruce up my space and put more order in my life. These entries provide great visual examples of organizing your space while putting my apartment to shame. Then it hooks me into ModCloth– Could they be the answer to my clutter? Now I’m on their site…again. Brilliant. Just wish there was more buzz and promotion on it. As you can see I caught the tail end of the contest and I’m not the only one, they only had a handful of entries.
Seamless: It’s Raining
Clever, funny, simple, and doesn’t have to go too far on the design to get its message across.
Orbitz & 5 Gum Micro Pack – Freebies
Hustler Tip: Stick around Midtown for awesome street promotions and marketing ops, like these free micro gum packs I scored. I tend to avoid Midtown (and Chinatown) like the plague but I forgot about the freebies. I may need to rethink this.
Enjoy the rest of your week! Share your favorite social media brand posts, contests, partnerships, freebies, anything at all, in the comments.
October 2012, Maira Kalman, Artist, Illustrator, Product Designer
Now what is the reason for this post?
As I attended my regular monthly Creative Mornings today — or as the speaker today put it “The Breakfast Club”, which I love, (both Creative Mornings and the Movie of course.) I realized what I truly love about this community is the speakers. Recently I’ve noticed that I’ve been sticking to industry related meetups, talks, classes, and networking events. As much as I love social media and digital, it’s wearing on me. Back in high school and college I would attend at least one concert a week. I was a film major watching countless of movies from all genres and regions of the world, and when I first moved to NYC there was never an event or corner I wouldn’t explore — from cooking lessons to comedy shows to photography group scoutings. Life is full of culture and I wanted to taste it all.
Point being is I miss mixing it up. And frankly, that’s the best part about Creative Mornings, when it comes down to the event I simply don’t have to think. I am always guaranteed an amazing speaker that will be at the peak of creativity in their industry. Whether that industry be film, illustration, design, art, science, tech, business, inspiration, or imagination. These mornings force me out of my usual social/digital comfort zone to explore the creative approaches to so many different fields. This is what I truly love about it.
P.S. If you know me at all, even when I can’t remember the date for the next Creative Morning, I always seem to have this six sense as to when the next one is coming. True Story. I also have a strategy when it comes to sign-up — which I can not reveal at this time.
Last week I participated in the Curators Conference. As I did not want to pay $400 for admission, I decided to take what I like to call the “Hustler Approach” and volunteer for the event. To say the least it was a gruesome 12 hour day, but well worth not having to shell out the cash for the conference. Another positive was getting to experience the inner workings of running a conference, something I’ve always wanted to do.
While being a volunteer does face the disadvantage of being able to seeing every speaker, a few speakers I did manage to see stood out to me. Specifically Soraya Darabi, who is the co-founder of Foodspotting and was formerly in charge of NYTimes’ Social Media. As most speakers took the approach to talk about their company and what they do, Soraya instead, walked us through an hour by hour snapshot of her day with the apps and websites she uses daily– curating her life through social.
Her day consisted of this:
Cir.ca: News, re-imagined. (New app -not yet released.)
Path: Staying connected with family & close friends.
Work Flowy: Organize your brain. This tool helps organize personal to-dos, collaborate on large team projects, take notes, write research papers, keep a journal, plan a wedding, and much more.
Sparrow: Combining email and social at the same time.
BrandYourself: Curating SEO results, your personal brand, and Google results.
Foodspotting:Visual guide to good food and where to find it.
Spotify: Digital music service that gives you access to millions of songs.
Highlight:Gives you a sixth sense about the world around you, showing you hidden connections and making your day more fun.
Svpply:Online shopping. Helps you find the products you love, from the people and stores you find interesting.
This break down left me wondering– is this even true? Does anyone have a breakdown hour by hour of applications they use? Probably not, even Soraya mentions she only uses specific apps and only the most productive ones that meets her own needs. Perhaps it isn’t possible, but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have productivity in mind.
Continuing to thinking about this concept I asked myself —Is anyone this organized? What is my daily routine?
Looking at my past few days, weeks, even months I realized I honestly don’t have one. I love to stop what I’m doing to help others but I haven’t really helped myself. Feeling completely unorganized with managing my own priorities, this is something I need to start changing.
“Small sustainable changes are more likely to stick.” I may not have a solid play-by-play of every hour of my day, but I can start by making small sustainable changes.
Things I would like to try for 30 days:
Dedicate an hour a day to:
Writing
Reading
Learning Italian
Gym time
Personal time– Including everything I need to catch up on in life, from Twitter updates to planning my birthday trip.
Cooking one new recipe a week
Trying one new restaurant per week
Meet 5 new people per week
Like Matt says, “the next 30 days are going to happen whether you like it or not, why not do something you’ve always wanted to try.”
If you are a commuter like me, most of you are too familiar with some of these advertisements and campaigns. I have a love for not only these urban advertisements but love research so I thought I would dabble into some of these campaign to understand what works and what doesn’t.
Nicole Monahan 