The past two months have given me a completely new perspective on the past and future.  I won't bore you with too many of the details.   Let's just say that I have been forced to reflect a bit more than I normally would. 

In my role as VP of Social Media for commonground, I need to balance time between staying on top of what is cutting edge and mainstream best practices, without losing track of goals.  I enjoy spending time with environmental and property professionals, executives, coworkers, business partners, friends and family discussing the evolution of how we do both our professional and personal business.  

Recently, I have spent a lot of time with a number of individuals in their late 70's and 80's, including family members, on the same topic.    It seems like their collective frustrations can be bucketed into three categories - technology, the younger generation, and finances/healthcare costs.    They ask questions such as:

• Why is everything technology, technology, technology?
• How come kids these days never put down their cell phones?
• Why does the younger generation think they are so entitled?
• How much did you pay for that?
• Why would you buy a new one, your old one is not that old?
• Why can't I talk with someone on the phone instead of one of those computer agents?

Do some of these sound familiar?   Those of you who know me are well aware that I am never afraid to throw my $.02 into a conversation at the appropriate time.  This one was different.   I was the youngest person by a good 40 years and one that has spent a lot of time studying the evolution of the generations.    So, the conversation about the above went on for a good 10 minutes and I was quiet.  Then, I could not help myself anymore and just spoke my true feelings concerning the topic.

The reason why everything is powered by technology, we all live on our cell phones, and money is often wasted on what might be deemed "unnecessary purchases" is.......you.    

You should have seen the faces as I began to explain why.... Let it be known that I did not win any popularity contests with my answers, but I believe them to be true.

As a parent, you encouraged us to get the best possible education and manage our time so that we could find a good job.  You told us we had to learn about computers as "they are going to be the future".  You told us we had to, like it or not, in order to have the best chance at being successful.     You were the ones, our mentors, who encouraged innovation, effort, and teamwork.    You experimented with new things (insert things here) and organized Woodstock.  You invented game changing things like powered windows in cars vs. cranks, call waiting, handheld mobile devices, computers that could automate just about anything, and the world wide web.   You introduced us to TV, video games, and remote controls.  You taught us to use the microwave because it was faster.  You brought us to McDonald's because it was easier when things were hectic.  You taught us that if we truly believed in something to go after it and you would support us (even if we got in a bit of trouble). You also told us that in order to get rich, you needed to invent something.  Whether we want to admit it or not, our culture has collectively embraced the things you taught us.  And, what you taught us was right.  Technology has become a way to maximize business and personal efficiency - efficiency that is required in order to keep up.  And because we have to keep up, the younger generation may seem like it is not paying attention.  I would argue that more times than not, they are multi-tasking. 

Then, I politely closed with this comment - before we spend too much being negative about how things are today and will be moving forward, I encourage you to look in the mirror because you are as much to blame as I am.  You may not agree with my opinion.  However, I just thought it was important to openly and respectfully share my feelings on the subject, which of course is another thing you taught us to do.

Some of you may perhaps read Lauren Rosencranz's Blog titled Fresh in the Field.   If you don't, I would encourage you to check it out as she often addresses topics like this and the changing business landscape.

Even though my blog post has nothing to do with Phase I ESA's, Contamination, or REC's, sometimes we need to think through why things are the way they are and accept responsibility for our actions both now and in the future.  Wouldn't you agree?

Just something to think about...... the next time you look up from checking your blackberry, while at Starbucks -- to see if the line has moved yet.    

Can you believe it?  2010.  When is the last time you have reflected on the fact that 10 years or 3,650 days, have flown by since the millennium?   To me, it is awfully hard to fathom as I write my last blog of 2009.   Do you ever find yourself saying "If only we could just roll back the clock"? 

10 years ago today, I was working for a conference company where we ran many conferences and expositions on then emerging technologies such as  Y2K, the Internet, Sales Force Automation, and one that had a very short shelf life at the time, B2B.    Specifically, our Y2K conference reached new heights in popularity in '99.  We made millions of dollars by facilitating events that educated IT professionals on how they needed to prepare to ensure that computers, systems, and networks all over the globe were Y2K compliant and their companies had contingency plans in the event of a disaster.   On the eve of the millennium, I stood outside Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas at 11:59, kissed my wife, and said let's hope to god the only thing that goes off in a minute are fireworks.  And that is what happened, believe it or not, 10 years ago.  Y2K was over.

For most of us, we went into the millennium on a high.   The economy was in a great place.  Optimism was strong.  All kind of new technologies were reshaping business.  Commercial real estate was booming.   In hindsight, things were pretty darned good.

To say things have changed is an understatement.   Recently, the word optimistic is often the trailer behind the words "I am trying to remain".   Many of us could chalk this year up as one of the more challenging years in our lives.    And, there seems to be a whole new wave of technology coming through that we now need to try to figure out in a spare time such as web2.0, cloud computing, virtual desktops, and social media.   Ways of doing business that we may have embraced 10 years ago have evolved, and that means we need to find time to evolve too.   

As Alexander Graham Bell said, "Before anything else, preparation is the key to success."   There is no better time to start preparing ourselves and our companies for the next 10 years than January 1^st.  If you don't yet have one or more New Year's business resolutions, perhaps these suggestions might be helpful:

• Budget 30 minutes a day during, before, or after hours educating yourself on what market leading companies are doing well today
• Set up an RSS feed for news and content that is relevant for your industry
• Spend time learning and experimenting with social media technology and tactics
• Upgrade your cell phone to a PDA whether you want to or not- the world will be more mobile everyday and iPhones, Android, and Blackberry's are a requirement moving forward
• Throw away, or file away, all old paperwork, magazines, and stuff, you no longer use
• Clean out your inbox and organize or delete old emails
• Attend some face to face events in addition to online events. There is no replacement for the focused networking time and learning when you do not have the office distractions.

These are pretty basic suggestions, but sometimes we need to go back to basics.  Business will come back at some point.  Here's to making sure we are prepared to handle it in the most efficient and impactful way when it does.

Season's Greetings and best wishes for a successful 2010! 

One month.  That's it.  One month left before we raise glasses together and toast the New Year.  Perhaps we will wish for happiness, health, and peace.  Perhaps we will wish for business success or simply job security.  Perhaps we will wish that life may get easier this year as the past few have been a challenge for the majority of us.   Perhaps we will hope for some combination of all of the above.    

If you are like me, you are already pondering your New Year's Resolution(s).  I typically have two - a personal one and a business one.   Personally, I am going to work on my health by dropping at least 20 pounds  by getting back to working out and eating better. 

My business resolutions do not change from year to year.  I pick three new things I am going to force myself to find time to do, or learn.  For 2010. I am still working on exactly what they are as it is important for me to stay ahead or at least current with trends.  Yes, it has a lot to do with my role, but at a young age raised by older parents, I never really was all that advanced in using technology.   Friends and past coworkers are probably nodding their heads now.  Therefore, I have made it a requirement to push myself outside my comfort zone and learn.  Why you might ask?  As Rob Barber recently wrote, innovation is a requirement in business today and technology is core to innovation.

During a recent Thanksgiving conversation with my older brother, who has always turned his nose up to social networking and online communities, I was surprised to hear that he plans to really dig in and learn  LinkedIn which he has avoided until now.  He also stated that his company, a large b2b electronics firm, is encouraging its employees to learn about social media and to start using it more in the coming year.    I am not surprised - after all Twitter was declared the most popular English word of 2009.   No, I did not make that up.

If you want to understand the business value of social media and online networking in the new year, including how to use LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook,  below are a couple of simple ways to getting started:

• Visit my blog from a short time back called Work, Life, Social Media Balance.  A half hour a day, when you can on what you find valuable, and you are on your way.
• If you plan to better understand how using social networking can help your business in the New Year, I would encourage you to spend 1 hour on Thursday December 10th listening to How to Generate Business Using Social Media Web Seminar. Yes, there is a small fee to attend, but the time saved, the social media roadmap, and checklist you will get from someone I consider to be one of premier minds in "the social media for business space", Jason Falls, will be invaluable.
• This past week, I authored a post on Mashable titled How To: Make Social Media Work for Non-Consumer brands. I think many of our members would find value in reading it. It addresses the process to get started with creating a business to business social media strategy.

Social media can help you create time - not waste time.  Plan wisely and don't let the words "social media" out to be negative or time spent messing around online.  Remember, years ago we shrugged off beepers, cell phones, PDA's, email, ecommerce, and customer relationship management software.   Think about how you would conduct your business today if we didn't have them?    Online is one of the three pillars of communication.  Pretty soon, the words "social media" will be on the above list of necessities as will many other innovative new technologies (tbd) in 2010 that I fully intend to explore to ensure that each year I am doing my part both personally and professionally to remain relevant in the eyes of my employers, customers, and peers. 

Question:  Why, in an environmental community, are we starting to talk more and more often about social media, search engine optimization, and social web presence?

Answer:  The social web is changing business.  And, even those who are not practicing social media like I do every day, are interested in trying to figure the whole thing out in an efficient way.

I think most professionals, including those that would fall into the "environmental professional" category know that Google is the most powerful business game changer of the decade.   Even knowing that, many companies have been slow to the table to accept that and determine ways to ensure that their web and social presence is as strong as their traditional marketing presence.  

Today, 85% of your customers, my customers, and our future customers search when they open their web browser as their first move.   And, they do it 14 billion times per month.   That is why as we approach 2010, you should revisit your web strategy.   As Jason Falls states, search looks for a couple of things (relevancy):

• 1) Is your website content recent? If it is updated frequently, with dynamic and valuable content, you will rank higher in search results.
• 2) How many other people think that content is good? If users think the content is good, it will impact your positioning dramatically in search results.

Pretty logical stuff here and Google and other search algorithms are smart.   How many companies think their products are great?  Of course you/we do.  That is why these search engines find more value in what the users of your products and services think.  That trend will only continue to increase as we as buyers and consumers get access to more information via the web.

As we collectively move into the fall and start making plans and strategies for 2010, our goal is to share some practical business advice on how to help you capitalize on the most important trend across all business right now - the social web.    If there is something you are interested in hearing about, please reply and let me know.

For the past two days, I attended the Inbound Marketing Summit at Gillette Stadium, the home of the New England Patriots - the best NFL team of the ERA.  Sorry Larry and other non - Boston sports fans.  I had to add that.  

The event talked about ways to help improve marketing effectiveness and ultimately sell more.    Over the course of the next week, I intend to share some nuggets that I found were very valuable during the two days.

What should come as no surprise to anyone is that many environmental professionals are trying to figure out new and innovative ways to generate marketing exposure, leads, and sales.  Our market has changed - as have most.  However, as a whole, the environmental professional - consultants, lenders, attorneys, geologists, etc. are a little slower to adopt social media than other markets, such as the retail, travel, and technology industry.  Why?  Those industries are generally early adopters - and they are seeing the fruits of their labor and commitment.  Once the b2c markets seem to find success, b2b markets seem to follow when it comes to advances in emerging technologies.

I had the pleasure of watching a presentation about Southwest Airlines. They have made a full commitment to social media.  What does that mean?   Paula Berg, a very intelligent and inspiring social media professional at Southwest shared that it is a directive that social media will be an integrated part of the customer experience at Southwest for all new initiatives.  Seems like a pretty big commitment.  Why would they do something like that?  

First, Southwest Airlines has 750,000 twitter followers and on an average day add 7,000 new followers.    Recently, they ran a short promotion and just used social media.  What happened?  Well, this promotional approach produced the biggest sales week in the 38 year history of Southwest Airlines.  

The second thing that blew my mind was the Southwest Airlines rap video.  I live on the web, but somehow I had not seen it.  I have included the video below.  A passenger on a Southwest flight ran a video of a flight attendant who decided to mix it up a bit from the same monotonous pre-flight speech we have heard hundreds of times..  Check it out for yourself.