If this is their best, I can’t wait til they have competition

Back in the early ol’ days of my blogging, one of my first-ever posts was about the astounding lack of detailed information in PayPal transactions. This evening, I’m combing through some transactions now to confirm a rebate, and I once again find myself astounded by PayPal’s lack of evolution. Come on, PayPal people. I love your service, the ease, the security, your ubiquity. You rock. Oh, except in one area where you suck: lack of data about transactions. It’s impossible to tell to whom a payment was made. The description is not a human-readable description and something that might — gasp — serve their customers, but some yackety-yack-yack data that serves your company.

Evolve or perish.

All kinds of critters, countries and businesses lay dead and forgotten as proof.

Imo, PayPal, you’re not far behind if you can’t step up your game.

PayPal's lack of detailed information in transactions is abominal. imo.

And here’s the useless data that shows up on my bank account –

Please, PayPal, evolve. For the most part, I really like being your customer, and I’ve been your customer for years. But I need data. And I’m dependent on you providing it. Or I’ll have to go somewhere else. And that would be sad. For you.

Blueberry, Mulberry, Banana Smoothie

Mulberry

The vibe to make a smoothie occurred this morning. So I heeded it. This is what came about and got mixed together in my lovely, favorite-ist kitchen gizmo: the Vitamix –

Blueberry, Mulberry, Banana Smoothie

• 1 c frozen blueberries
• 1 banana
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2 T mulberry syrup (from a local Turkish grocer)
• 1 tsp agave syrup
• 2/3 c plain yogurt

Whirrr. Whirrr. Whirr. Yum.

Note: Mulberry syrup is a bit molasses-y and tastes faintly of raisins, to me. It needed something to mellow it, so I added the yogurt at the end.

Photo via thingsthatfizz.blogspot.com

How to manage more than one company’s Facebook ad campaign

I’m posting this on my blog, so at least I’ll be able to find it. It’s an email from the good people in Facebook’s advertising dept, in which they provide direction on how to manage Facebook advertising campaigns for more than one client (credit card) at a time. Here goes –

To use multiple credit cards you will need to open a secondary business account to run your ads. To set up a business account:

1. Click on ‘Advertising’ at the bottom of the page on Facebook.com (when completely logged out).
2. Click “Create an Ad” (green button).
3. Create a campaign by going through steps 1-3 (note this ad will not actually run, but a “dummy” ad must be set-up in order to get to the next screen).
4. When prompted to log in at “Facebook Login”, make sure to select “I do not have a Facebook account.”
5.  Input a general company e-mail address or your company e-mail address (Make sure that the e-mail does not match with your Facebook personal profile e-mail address or any other Facebook email address in our system). Please also note the general email address cannot be an email like, info@, help@, support@.
6. Verify the e-mail address through your inbox.

Now, your business account has been created! Please do not click “Create Your Profile” within this account. You can now log into the account and create an ad by clicking on the “Advertising” link. You will be prompted for your credit card information after you have placed an order for an ad.

SEO tactics from a non-expert … and generational influences

I had a conversation with a client re SEO the other day. Here are some notes — in a very note-like form — that came out of this conversation. It’s messy writing, messy formatting and messy organization of thoughts. Scan it if you want to. Scroll down to the last paragraph for the generational take on things. Never one to miss such an opportunity. Oh, and no, I’m not practicing what I preach in this blog post. Just getting notes up and out into the public.

Cautions and tips on engaging SEO:
- Question the belief that strong SEO equates an increase in sales before embarking on an SEO project
- You  can never “win” the SEO war (there will always be someone else, perhaps in a different market, who utilizes same keywords and is more geeky)
- Currency and popularity of content are now trumping some older, established content in search engine order. In other words: prior definitions of SEO tactics are shifting. New methods and strategies abound.

Approaching SEO in 2010:

- PR efforts are a part of SEO

- increased incoming links to our content increases our credibility in SEO algorithms

- Take a pulse of the company’s SEO standing vis-a-vis keywords first – Project.
- search on google, yahoo and msn, using  selected keywords

- find where we are now

- find who is there if we aren’t there

- Best area for us to focus SEO is content creation: blogs, blogs, blogs!
- Search engines love:

• • blogs
  • blog headlines
  • content tags
  • photo file names
  • captions and tiles accompanying photos
  • first sentences in blogs
  • and links to legitimate (established) sites on keywords, e.g. link to a Wikipedia article on the word “xyz” in your first sentence or two of a blog for good Google juice.

Specifically and conscientiously put keywords in these areas in the list above
- repeat keywords in the content
- name (with keywords) and upload photos to accompany content
- tag content – when posting blogs use tag tool to tag the content with appropriate keywords

Plus the tip I emailed you yesterday …

From Jessie

This is really helpful, (person)! Thanks for the conversation and for wrapping up the notes. I made some tweaks (above) and will add this perspective to the conversation: I’m not an SEO expert and yet I have astounding successes with search results on terms that my blog should never rank in any meaningful way. And yet I do. Again and again. And again.

Yes, your company can embark on SEO work vis-a-vis your website, but you’ll never win that war. Instead, focus on your blog (which is on your website’s URL – yay) and on learning how to use each blog post for increasing your Google juice. Learn how to use your blog for SEO juice; use your blog intelligently, wisely and completely.

And, don’t stress the SEO conversation. Here’s why:

1. You’ll never win the SEO battle.
2. You have phenomenal brand ownership of your name on line and presence inside of (subject matter expertise area).
3. Your big picture goal should include getting your community to talk about you and link to your content more.

Here’s my generational take on this
Be wary of intentions to control (web) territory and squat on turf (Boomer mentality). Be wary of Millennial desire to do things that are successful, good and praiseworthy. The energy now is in social capital. Getting social capital requires being detailed, down in the dirt, real, engaged and personal. GenXers (the primary force in marketing, media and communications) want to know and meet their adversaries one on one, right? So, to do they with their information sources. Get personal. More juice there now. When Millennials are in midlife, this will change, but that’s 15 years down the road. But for now, if you want to be successful, you gotta work within GenX energy around sharing of info, and it means getting personal and real.

my2cents – from the front line

Checklist for Success: using social media for parties

A fan am I of The Checklist Manifesto. It motivated me to write down the activities I’ve been doing for a (sorta) monthly party I co-host. And the information, I do believe, is helpful for individuals, orgs and businesses as they plan events in today’s option-rich communication environment. Here is the checklist I follow for integrating social media into the local hocoblogs blogtail parties.

Checklist for Success

hocoblogs Blogtail Parties
Logistics, Communications and Engagement

Venue
Secure a cohost.
Select a date.
Select a venue.
Introduce self, explain the blogtail party to the restaurant manager.
Check with restaurant manager to confirm a clear event date and time.
Send the manager the link to the wrap-up doc for our Pure Wine event. http://scr.bi/8YfYcg and the eventbrite.com invitation link.
Get the restaurant’s twitter handle, if it exists. And the website address.
Find out if the restaurant is actively managing its foursquare account.
Encourage the restaurant to do something special for the bloggers at the party.

Invitation
Create the eventbrite registration.
Create a hashtag for the event, or just use #hocoblogs.
Find and include links to Howchow posts about the place, the foursquare URL, Hocoloco-girl post, and other blogger reviews of the restaurant.
Email the invitation to all registered bloggers on hocoblogs.com via Akubo.net.

Communication
Write an event announcement and send it to The Columbia Flier calendar section.
Tweet the event on @hocoblogs.
Post the event on my Facebook page, published to my Hoco list.
Blog about it on Hometown-Columbia.com.
Ask the bloggers to share the news of the party in their networks and on their blogs, where relevant.
Create a Facebook note (but not an event) and tag bloggers in it.

Day of the event
Tweet it.
Post it on Facebook.

On-site
Encourage tweets, photos, foursquare and Gowalla check-ins.
Use hashtags, links and @ to recognize people, places and things.

After the event
Get links to local bloggers who wrote about the event, pre or post.
Take a screen capture of tweets with hashtags.
Take a screen capture of Foursquare checkins.
Create a wrap-up document.
Send the wrap-up doc to restaurant manager.
Post the wrap-up doc on Scribd.com.
Send wrap-up doc link to bloggers via Akubo.net service. Remind the bloggers that as individuals and as a community, we rock.

Dominion will be mine

Big thanks to @vees for the tip about bethemayor.com. This quick, easy to use, free site tells me how many times I need to check into a place on #foursquare to become mayor … assuming, of course, I’m the only one checking in. But such things are not static. Cool tool, in any case, for those of you feeling the rush upon becoming a foursquare mayor and the disappointment of being ousted.

Oh, the irony.

Late last night, I published a post I’d written ages ago but for which I had just never hit the “publish” button. It was about #foursquare, how a venue/biz can use it and my mayorship at the East Branch Library in #theHoCo. So, what email do I get this morning? This one –

Mrs. Mayor

A friend of mine who works at our local library noticed I was on Foursquare and checking in at the East Branch Library. She asked me if I had some ideas re using this new social media tool inside the library. Here’s the message I sent her; posted here with her permission, though, admittedly, the message I sent her didn’t have the title below:

How to rock foursquare at a venue

Step 1: CLAIM your venue. Do this by checking in at 4sq and then claiming the venue as the manager. do this at each library. don’t create a library 4sq acct the way a human would. (this drives me nuts when entities such as “The Baltimore Sun” check in at a cafe. Really? I don’t think so.) No, the approach is to be the MANAGER of a place. First, to claim your proper territory on the web. It’s yours. Own it. Claim it.

Step 2: Engage. You don’t have to GIVE anything. but you could. What about “no library late-fee fines” for the mayor? … Which is kinda backward, because if you’re showing up at the library enough to be the mayor, you shouldn’t have late fees. speaking of which, I’m the mayor of east branch library, am currently out of town and have a book that is overdue! So perhaps, I’m being self-serving. but it could be a mini pr campaign. something fun.

Mrs Mayor ... at least for now.

Step 3: Acknowledge your mayors. On twitter is one place. Show the pic to the STAFF at the branch of people who check in on 4sq; make it someone’s job at each library to look at the 4sq checkins and be friendly and fun; say “Hello, Mayor” and “Have a good day, Mayor” as they leave. Acknowledge people who check in regularly. Have fun. And give back. People are sharing their social capital with your brand when they check in. Acknowledge that.

Step 4: Monitor the tips people post. Thank people for them and for participating.

And have a free event or two at a hoco library re this new tool FourSquare: how to use it and how not to use it. And how the library uses it as a biz/organization/entity, vs. how staff/individuals use it.

Write about your experience with it. Blog about it. Tell your story (once you have a story) in library publications and trade blogs. and I should be part of your story: how “the mayor” got the tables a little more clean by pointing out a need. *

Also, once you get more of a story developed (use, incidences, lessons learned, and so forth) contact several newspapers/mags in the Balt-DC region and tell them the library is using 4sq and that if they’re looking for any gov/institutional uses of the tool, that you’d be happy to do an interview on behalf of the library.

Tips, tips, tips.

* True story: I kept checking in to the East Branch Library, which is my *home* library and my fave. But the tables in the back area where I like to sit had become super grimy of late. I started to post notes on my foursquare check-ins and tips such as “Ask the people at the front desk for a handiwipe so you can clean the grime off the tables.” The

Blog posts from the crypt

Cleaning out some files, I am. Found this bit. Never published it. Must have written it in late 2007, I’m guessing. It’s for the people in #theHoco and those GenXers who find themselves no longer willing to let others dominate the conversation about cities, citizenship, the public and the people. For those not in #theHoco, there was contention around a proposed high-end condo development in my hometown. Here goes:

How it all began

I’ve always considered myself a fairly good citizen. I’m involved, in my own way. I contribute my thinking, energy, solutions and time to civic and community groups. And, for the most part, I’ve just always figured that public leaders, elected and otherwise, had every one’s good interests at heart, and that they’d figure things out and keep things functioning just fine. This perspective worked for me for most of my 35+ years in Columbia.

Then, T-h-e Towers happened.

I read a little here and a little there in the papers. I had a conversation or two or three with those-in-the-know and people whose opinions and thinking I trusted. And then, one day, I learned about the four legal plaintiffs. I read an article in The Flier and something inside of me snapped.

I had crossed a line inside my own life and my own definition of being a citizen. I had grown up in the split of a second. Allow me, please, to try and explain this shift in me.

See, I had watched the fight. I had witnessed a small group of people labeling themselves “the citizens” and “the public.”  I had observed the newspapers give unfair and undue credit to this small and vocal group — and its direct opposite — calling such groups “the community.” And while this phenomenon had been OK with me for a couple decades prior, suddenly I was tired of the moralizing. I understand the importance of values and vision, but I couldn’t understand what the fight was about. (And I still don’t.) As I saw it, the tug-of-war had become the news and the discussion.

And in a quiet but galvanizing moment, I realized that I could no longer trust the elder citizens at the helm of all things public. I could no longer trust them to lead the community in a way that serves all of us, rather than just a select few. I could no longer trust the group organizers, the public leaders, the spokespersons and the position-paper writers.

So, I created Hometown Columbia, and I started to blog. I added my perspective, my thinking and my own lens on Living Locally, which included, but certainly hasn’t been focused on T-h-e Tower. I continue to blog, I’ve had a lot more conversations with people-in-the-know and “everyday Joe’s,” I’ve attended public hearings, I’ve read a lot more about this subject, and I’ve become more involved in citizen groups. Now, it’s seven months later. And the issue which triggered my stepping into a public role with Hometown Columbia is not only still at hand; it’s as messy, unresolved, contentious and off-putting as ever. As I see it, the processes we have in place to resolve such issues are out of date and no longer work. The government solutions aren’t working. The press and media are not only not contributing to public dialogue, but are making the tug-of-war worse. And the once-heralded concept of associations and citizen groups is limited.

If you find yourself also feeling disengaged by the moralizing without vision, the attempted compromises that bring no real solution and the small majority of people who represent but one or two perspectives, then perhaps you’d like to check in on Hometown Columbia in the next week or two. You’ll have to bear with me. I’m going to attempt some soul searching. I’m going to share some new thinking, and I’m going to do my best to reframe this situation. And I’m curious to understand how you think about this reframing of the issues, as well.

Happy weekend to you all.

Sharing is sexy!

Saw this option for sharing online content. Liked it. Personally, I have used, recommended to others and ensured the implementation of the ever-so-simple AddThis.com widget. (All, of course, while not having this on my own blog, but that’s a the-cobbler’s-children-have-no-shoes story. Sigh.) Anyhoo, I found this graphic and option to share online content in a network compelling. So, since “sharing is sexy!” I thought I’d share.

Sharing is sexy!

Pho real.

Zagat’s latest edition is out. And on its list of fab places in #theHoCo are three places that, pho real, are quite a delight.

• An Loi
• Pho Dat Than, and
• Pho Nam.

Pho sure, hot soup in the summer time isn’t always my thing, but give me a rainy, chilly day, and I can think of little better than some steaming, fresh pho. Check out Zagat’s latest for all things #food, #restaurant, #columbiamd and in #theHoco. Better yet: Tune in to HowChow’s blog, follow him on Twitter (@howchowblog) and/or become a fan on Facebook.

My kind of world.

I’ve had some exquisite experiences living in my kind of world. Here’s a little story to give insight about what I mean. Just yesterday, my BFF and I both noticed that a mutual friend we know from #theHoco, @jahantab, had checked in on foursquare and was at SFO.

Independently, we both sent him messages saying that we were also in SF, saw that he was in town and  asked if he wanted to get together for drinks. He did. And after some serious texting back and forth, we decided upon The Press Club, a most-interesting set-up, space and business model for a wine club. Jtab and his girlfriend met us there, and while we were all enjoying a glass of wine and the conversation, @thekenyeung came by and said a warm hello.

Now, OK, what’s the big deal? I’m hanging with my friend, another friend from #theHoco is in town, and now I’m talking to another friend as well. No big deal, right? Well, this particular person is someone I know from #theHoco. Specifically, I met him in the DC Metro social media scene a number of years ago and discovered that we both lived in Howard County. Alas, he was moving to SF right around the time we started to get to know each other a little better.

But here I was Saturday night, with my hometown base in #theHoco, hanging with my BFF who lived in #theHoco for 20 years, chillin’ with Jtab and his sweetheart, (the former from #theHoco) when I run into a friend who is also from #theHoco. Small world indeed. My kind of world! The kind of world I like living in: where friends near and far, are never really so far away at all.

Tilapia: my go-to protein source

I’ve become quite the fan of tilapia in the last few years. Cheap, bland, easy to cook and farm-raised. It’s also sold in ready-to-cook, single-serve packs. When I’m looking for a quick protein-source for a meal or snack, I often turn to tilapia. And here’s how I cook it; it’s crazy easy.

In a large frying pan

1. I fill the pan 2/3 full with water and bring the water to a boil.
2. To the water, I add soy sauce, wasabi, vinegar, cayenne and/or mustard. Something to give it a little oomph.
3. Then I place the fillet in the pan. Cook for 5 minutes or so, depending on how large the pieces are and how many I have in the pan.

And that’s it.

Now I have a very easy to dress up protein source. A bit of soy sauce or a ready-to-use marinade, say Soy Vay Sesame Dressing, and I’m good to go. Over salad. With some veggies on the side. Options abound. Oh, and I always cook extra and keep the leftovers in the fridge for an insta-protein source.

In the hands of god.

In a fog I’ve been lately. Not emotionally or mentally, but literally. I’m in SF and the city is doing what it does in the summer: being crazy foggy with an endless sky of fog. Not a bit, a ray, a drip or drop of sun poking through. And then, late this morning, kazam: the fog burned off and the sky was blue and the air was SF warm: in the high 60s. So, my BFF and I went for a walk to get in some sun. We (actually she) decided to walk toward the water, and I — not having any better plans or ideas — decided that worked for me.

Off we went. Down a street we don’t typically walk. Headed toward the Ferry Building and catching some rays. And there she was … about 20 yards in the distance. There was a long-time friend — my first real friend in SF when I moved here at the glorious age of 20. I’ll call her Kelly. See, Kelly and I had lost touch ages ago, and I’d been trying for years to track her down: Google searches, combing Facebook, asking around with people who might know her. I knew I would connect with her again because our friendship is like that. And I figured/felt/envisioned that I would, indeed, run into her and cross paths one day. I’d gotten that vibe. I just didn’t know when or where I would run into her, and it certainly wasn’t a top of mind thought.

Today, it happened. In a sliver of sunshine, down a street I don’t walk that often, on the “right” side of the street, I saw her, screamed out her name, and gave her a big hug.

Amen!

Word choice.

I like words. I like to think about them. To use them. To find the right ones at the right times for the right moments. Sometimes I find myself a little baffled by others’ word choices. For example, I purchased two tickets to a concert via Ticketmaster. They charged me a “convenience fee” of $9.45 PER ticket, or $18.50. I don’t consider it a “convenience” when I had no other choice for how to get the ticket. I call it a “fee.” Maybe a “rip-off” would be better. But I’ll settle for “fee.”

Alas, I thought I was done with my “convenience” experience til they whopped me with a $4.95 “ordering and service fee.” Ahhhh, I thought to myself. I wonder how that differs from the “convenience fee?”

Well, I’m not in charge of Ticketmasters’ marketing and communications. Nor their corporate culture. I can only pine for, speak up about and practice myself the art of speaking accurately and from my perspective. May we each and all do the same. I, for one, would find it a bit easier to navigate the world when words and meanings are more accurately aligned.

Richmond Riveters Seed Saving campaign… and my charming sister!

But, Alicia …

A few months back, I heard of and got a vibe an interesting-sounding job. Rock-pop-R&B star Alicia Keys was hiring a “head blogger.” Curious, I read about the position and how Monster.com and Ms Keys had partnered in announcing this position. I like partnerships, collaboration and this “the sum is greater than its parts” approach to life.

I decided to apply.

I whipped up an Alicia-Keys-Head-Blogger-specific resume, implored my friends to give me a shout-out on my blog and waited for what came next. See, Ms Keys wasn’t just “hiring” a Head Blogger; she was having a contest with a panel of judges to review the first 60 candidates selected by Monster.com’s new 6Sense semantic search tool, and then an in-person, on-TV interview in London. I liked it already! And I was fascinated by the PR machine whirling around both of these brands. I was curious to participate and see how they’d work it all; and heck, if I won, or got to the top round, that’d be an extra bonus in the experience.

So, I waited.

Then, I waited some more. Yes, Monster.com sent me an auto-responder email when I submitted my resume. And, yes, I searched online and found Ms Keys’ Twitter handle and followed her.  And then I waited some more. See, I figured since this was a PR campaign for Monster.com and for Ms Keys that somebody, somewhere, somehow would have created a plan for communicating with the contest entrants. You know, a full-spectrum, community-engagement kind of PR plan. This never happened. I never got an email. I never got an announcement. I wasn’t encouraged to follow Ms Keys on Twitter, nor to join her FB fan page, nor to visit or subscribe to the IAAS blog. Nothing. Nada. I didn’t get any little news blips about how the contest was coming along. Or a little reminder that encouraged me to tune in on XYZ date to ABC station to watch the interview. Nothing.

Now, I’m quite capable of doing research, so I can find the information. That’s not the problem. What befuddles me is how the people creating so large a PR campaign around two significant, world-class brands could forget so simple a component of their audience. Who decided that it wasn’t important to communicate with the 8,500+ people who applied for the job? Who forgot to design a plan for communicating with 8,500 people who were applying for not just “a” job, but a job as a head blogger? I mean, come on, a big chunk of that 8,500 are (or better be!) blogging, tweeting and using social media, right?

Well, perhaps I was barking up the wrong tree. Perhaps it’s Monster.com that needs the head blogger. Or perhaps it’s the world-class PR firm they hired to manage this campaign that could use a bit of consulting around full-spectrum PR campaigns that include community engagement. I don’t know.

But I do know this: Alexis Tirado is the newly hired head blogger for Alicia Keys, and I trust she’ll do a fantastic job in the role. I’m hoping, as well, that she can bring greater awareness to the I Am a Super Woman team about the value of engaging a community of readers.

The pitfall of most generational consultants

They’re might have been a day. There might yet be a day. That day is when I’m an “official generational consultant.” Oh, I looked at the possibility, all right. Wrote the copy for my website. Did some group training. Developed a list of services. Blogged about the subject a lot, back in the day before it was hip and everybody was giddy with talk of Millennials rising up, Boomers retiring and weeeeeeeeeee, all the new change coming in.

Then I noticed the trickle which became a flood. The I-know-a-little-and-enough-to-be-dangerous flood of consultants and experts positioning themselves to address issues about generations in the workplace.

Sigh.

The pitfall most of these consultants fall in is that they fail to recognize their own generational bias. This video below won’t make much sense if you’re not uber-focused on generations the way I am. In it, the GenX star of the day being interviewed about managing Millennials starts out and ends the interview well. His info is accurate and good. But in the middle, he starts talking about Millennials asking the question “Why?” He talks of how they were raised to ask questions and to understand reasons behind why they are doing what they are doing it. This Why-orientation applies to homework, learning, and now, of course, job functions in the workplace.

This is so off-course from the core generational personality of Millennials. What it is, instead, is a projection of what he would have wanted as a young professional. See, while so many people are excited about Millennials rising into young adulthood, and rightly, as they are a Hero generation and bring bright-eyed optimism and upbeat team spirit to a culture quite fragmented in recent decades, they are oriented toward stepped progress replete with plans and visions of great success. Millennials (and the Hero gen as an archetype) “rebel” by actually accepting the intense demands adults (Boomers) place on them — demands which, by the way, Boomer youth would never have tolerated themselves. Then not only meet those high demands but excel beyond them. They study what they’re told to study. They practice hard, do extra homework, enroll in summer school and spend what could be free time with tutors. Why? Because they’ve been told by adults (Boomer culture) that this is what’s required of them.

Again, they rebel by meeting the high standards … and going beyond them.

They don’t get there by asking “Why?”

So, back to this Generational Expert of the Day in the video and his proclamation that Millennials ask “Why?” What he means is this: I’m a GenXer; I’m kind of excited that a new generation is coming into young adulthood; that means I’m also no longer the lowest man on the totem pole; I can feel the energy around the Millennials; it’s cool; but when i entered the workforce as a young adult, no senior colleagues really cared about my arrival, nor did they ask for my opinion; I wasn’t embraced as a new employee; I wasn’t offered training and incentives; and I was basically relegated to a corner office to do the grunt work of some pompous Boomer who loved to take credit for my work simply because he/she had an idea but had no idea how to implement it.

Whoops. There’s a little bit of me in there.  (Actually, I get along great with Boomers who have vision; horrible with Boomers who want to be King of the Hill yet convince themselves they have vision. But I digress.)

I do hope I made my point, though. Rare is the day when people/gurus/consultants pontificate about generations that they do so AND own their own generational bias. Want the goods? The best perspective? Check out the work of Strauss and Howe. In particular, Neil Howe has a new book out; it’s titled Millennials in the Workplace and is even written with the stellar support of a Millennial staffer. A short PDF/overview of the book (the Cliff Notes) is here. And, in full disclosure, I’m working with his team on their pr, communications and systems development in tandem with the book release.

I do believe it’s time for others to take the work of Strauss and Howe, and apply it. To take it to a wider world and more niche audiences. Many are doing a great job in just that. But beware the consultant who speaks of generations yet can’t identify, own, claim and — hopefully even laugh about — their own generational perspective, bias and view.

Rock on.

She sold me on the details.

I was approached by a maybe-homeless-definitely-panhandling woman today. She was friendly. She nodded at my friend and I as we passed her in a sure-feels-like-the-suburbs-large-strip-shopping area. We had a cart full of groceries. She looked like her life had been a bit tough. We knew she was a panhandler. She knew that we she was, too. She said hello. We nodded. And moved on. I don’t know anyone who responds to each panhandler, but I’m not one of them.

After loading up the car with our bags of groceries, I proceeded to take the cart to a drop-off spot when the panhandling woman kindly pointed to the paper products still on the bottom of the cart and reminded me not to forget them.

I told her she was kind. And the pitch began. A brilliant, natural marketer, if I ever met one.

She started to walk with me as I walked the short distance back to the car.

She told me her name.

She told me she was friendly.

She told me she needed $4.49 to get a very specific meal off the menu of a very specific restaurant.

She asked for my help; even some change would be good, she told me. And she said that I could give her the money or come with her to get the meal. (Her offer of proof that her request for money for a specific meal at a specific restaurant was, indeed, genuine.)

By this time, I was back at the car. I asked her to hold on a minute while I put the “paper products” (that’s code for T.P, which is code for … ) oh, back to the story. Anyway, I gave her a few bucks and, unlike most panhandlers who then turn their attention to the next person they’re lining up for The Ask, she promptly left the parking lot and headed off in another direction; perhaps and most likely, to the restaurant she mentioned to get the specific meal she so wanted.

Now, there are lots of stories on the streets here. And lots of panhandlers. And lots of desperate cases. And more opportunities in a day than you’d think possible to open your wallet and pull out a few bucks. And, I’ve been approached often by people who need “just a little money” to catch a bus home, or whatever. I take each situation on a case by case basis. I don’t have hard-and-fast rules about who I give money to, or why. But this particular woman approached me in such a factual, gentle, specific way that I was impressed. I didn’t feel swindled or put upon. I didn’t feel pressured or guilty. She was a person asking a small favor, and I complied with ease.

As well, she reminded me of the value in being specific about how I ask for help and why.

And I do hope — and trust — she enjoyed her meal this evening very much.

My partner of 10 years

I arrived in SF yesterday. On a most gorgeous day. High 70s, sun shining and, most wonderfully, also the Fab-40 anniversary of the Gay Pride parade. Needless to say, the city was hopping!

Cherie, my BFF, a relatively new resident of SF, and my destination home spot in the city, happens to live in SOMA and right near the parade route and after-party area. So, we stopped at her apartment after SFO, dropped off my bags and headed “straight” out: two white women in their mid- to late 40s, dressed in everyday white-women-in-their-40s wear.

Walking through the street fair, I was wearing a rainbow bracelet given to me an hour earlier when a young man stopped me. He raved about my leopard-spotted glasses and how he liked them on me. He seemed a bit happily tipsy. And he clearly wanted a conversation. “Is that your partner?” he asked me, looking at Cherie as she plowed on in the crowds, unaware that I’d stopped to talk fashion and such with a young gay man.

My mind whirled, processing the question at super-power speed. How should I answer him? Should I interpret his meaning and tell him the truth? He asked me if she was my “partner,” not  my “lover. She is my partner, in many things and in may ways. I decided in a flash: “Yes, she’s my partner,” I told him. “

How long have you been together?” he then asked.

“Ten years.”

And then the gushing began. And the conversation went on. By this time Cherie, my so-called partner, had circled back to where I was; she immediately caught on to what was going on and played along, agreeing, in full, that we were, indeed, partners. And we are.

Straight. Het. Men-loving. And partners, both.

Amen.