Summer 2008: A look back through social media... Thank You Twitter & facebook

Inevitably, as we begin this labor day weekend, one question comes to mind...

Has another summer passed us by already!?

The answer is YES!

My summer (another wonderful summer) has come and gone in an instant...

But, I did something very special for the summer of 2008... or what I will now call...

Summer 2008: 2.0.

This summer, as I traveled around the country, I thought it would be a very cool thing to blog what I was doing. I decided to tweet and facebook my summer by updating where I was and uploading photos. * see picture below.

Although it was certainly challenging to find time to do this... You have to imagine & realize that we were constantly traveling from place to place... (and part of the challenge was having enough cell service in the middle of the desert or while white water rafting .. thank you AT&T )

But, rest assured, I managed to update quite a few times with my whereabouts thank you my beloved iphone! But, I already went on a rant on my obsession, so let me continue for a minute.

As I often struggled to update my whereabouts and watch my 29 campers, I often would think... Is this really worth it? Who am I really doing this for? Sure, my friends got a kick out of following me and stalking my every move. My friend and PR gal @lexandthecity shamelessly stalked me and commented on my whereabouts.

But, when push comes to shove, (gasp!) I DID IT FOR ME!

For as long as I have been blogging and reading blogs, I have been a huge fan of Chris Brogan. Every time I meet him, he is the most encouraging and down to earth guy out there! I recently read a post he wrote about personal branding and how important it can be.

When I think about it, all of my tweeting and facebooking over the summer contributed to my personal online branding. All of my connectivity lets you, the reader or stalker or friend, know a little bit more about me. I like to think that my branding isn't just extra noise, but instead meaningful and interesting...

I must admit, it was pretty cool to update my whereabouts, especially now when I look back and can see where I was and what I was doing. But the funniest part about this is that I wasn't the only person to do this. My kids were also updating their facebooks telling their friends (and anyone who would listen) where they were and what an amazing summer we were all having! Coincidence? I think not... It just goes to show you how incorporated into our lives these tools are.

Summer 2008: Can we really survive without internet or cell service?

Hello World...

Fret not, I am back... for good.

I bet you thought that I forgot all about you! Well, my little blog, you are incorrect!

This summer was unbelievable. I spent the last 9 weeks as a counselor at my camp in Pennsylvania. But this was no ordinary summer spent in the mountains. With my 29 campers, I spent four weeks traveling across our beautiful country.

As I traveled from PA to California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and Colorado, I had a lot of time to think ... just not exactly time to write.

This post is all about connectedness.

Hey Blogosphere:
Ever wonder what its like to not check your email every hour? What about not checking your mail everyday?
Ever wonder what its like to not use a computer for 2 weeks?
How about sleeping in a tent?

I remember listening to a PodCamp Boston lecture last fall, where the speaker suggested that we only check our email twice a day. He said that everyone's addiction to clicking that reload button killed our productivity. At that time, my class and I chatted about how unbelievable this idea was! Was this guy seriously only checking his email 3 times a day and surviving to talk about it!?!

This summer... that lecture became my life.
and I had major withdrawl.

At camp, I was busy. Running around, hanging out with my kids, lucky to check my email for 10 minutes every 2 days. YES, seriously... only 10 minutes every few days. oh and no cell service... did I mention that?

However, I was so wrapped up in my world @ camp that I hardly realized what I was missing back out in the real world. With no time to even sit down and realize how disconnected I was, I didn't realize that I hadn't read the NYT and didn't know about the changed facebook.

Then I left for my trip and everything changed.

ENTER IPHONE.
CUE HEAVENLY MUSIC.

My life changed exactly one week after the launch of the new iphone. If you have seen this blog at all, then you will realize that I am slightly obsessed with my computer, the iphone and musicals. For one year, I have rather impatiently waited for the announcement and launch of the most amazing gadget to ever hit my hands.

and lets just say... its hardly left my hands in these 6 weeks.

Having the phone on my trip was incredible. Not only was I able to reconnect to my friends and family, but as far as I am concerned, having this phone just made my life as a counselor easy.

We needed a restaurant ... iphone to the rescue.
We needed a movie theater... iphone to the rescue.
We needed pinkberry... iphone to the rescue...
(clearly I was traveling with 15 year old girls...)

Looking back, it seems almost ridiculous how much I relied on this device to connect me. But, today... its just normal (for me and my generation).

What I learned is that there is a great divide between my generation, the generations directly below and above me. Let me explain:

The Youngins: My 15 yr olds are beyond. Beyond what you ask? Beyond everything? These are kids who have been video chatting for years. Girls who, at age 15, have blackberrys and can hardly sit through a movie without texting and BBM'ing...it is sad... but true!
MARKETERS, PAY ATTENTION HERE: these kids are impressionable, smart and willing to spend!

Although the girls (and boys) weren't allowed to have cell phones on the trip (and none of them did) they (BRACE YOURSELF) weren't dying without them. This is the amazing part. Sure they missed them... but they adjusted to life without a cell phone. And somehow, they survived...

The older counselors who were also on the trip ... we're talking late 20's... thought that I was crazy because of how connected I was. Although I had my phone, and could text and sometimes browse the internet, still felt relatively unconnected. I wasn't at my maximum connectedness.

Now, trust me when I say, I understand that I am not normal.

The average girl my age isn't so into electronics and certainly isn't as tech savvy as I am. But, chances are... she texts just as much as I do. Most likely, she is attached to her phone in some way.. even my most un-techie friends are obsessed.

So how did we get like this?
I don't have time to delve any deeper...

But this summer I learned that we can (sometimes) survive without being connected 24/7.