Photo-A-Day #1633

For months I’ve been counting down the days to IZEAFest 2009. This event has been such a long time coming. I have prepared in so many different ways to make this a success for me in the way of networking. I’ll be meeting some really amazing people and they are going to meet me and wonder what this blog is all about. I’ll have to practice up my elevator pitch because I’ll be meeting a ton of people in such a short period of time.

What to do AFTER Conferences?

After the conference I’ll be following up with new contacts, adding more blogs to my feed reader and continuing the relationships that will begin face to face. In terms of what to do with this blog I will be working on some great online courses like 31 days to a better blog and Under 30 RockStar. With all of those great tips I’ll be making the right tweaks and changes to this blog to Level Up my game.

Don’t get Overwhelmed

There are so many things to do right after a blogging conference. Who do you contact first, what amazing idea is busting out of your head and where do you put all the swag? (If you are lucky to get mine I know exactly where it will live, if you are like me it will be on your desk and be used every single day, multiple times maybe too. I think you’re going to want to use it right away actually.) Okay, so you have so much information crammed into your head and in notebooks, on SD cards and maybe even in draft blog posts now you need to take action.

• Breathe – there is a lot happening but that is okay stop and breathe.
• Organize Contacts– Take out all the business cards and place them in piles: Immediate Follow Up, Follow up 1 Week, Follow Up 2 weeks, No Follow Up. (I hope that you wrote little notes about each person on the back of the cards, really helps)
• Organize Thoughts – No doubt that you have so many great ideas, write them down and order them: Immediate Actions, Do Within 1 Week, Do Within 2 Weeks, Things That Would be Great to do.
• Organize Actions – Immediate Actions, Complete Actions in 1 Week, Complete Actions in 2 Weeks, Actions that would be awesome to do.

With yourself organized now you can start to get down to work. The most important things in my opinion are to cultivate relationships and improve your blogging skills. Things like installing new plug-ins and signing up for new distractions might seem imperative but they are not. The important thing is to improve what you are already doing and make sure that you stay in touch with those people that you met who inspire, challenge and motivate you.

Here is a bonus photo. It is a bit risque though. I couldn’t really find a way to incorporate that into this post. I was out shooting the geckos and saw these two doing pushups in synch. I got a little closer and realized that it was really a little different than I thought. But also as I got closer they ran off together still together and then stopped for this shot. So interesting I needed to add it.

Today was a nice lazy Sunday. I was up super early and so continued to read The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. So far it is typical Brown but I enjoy the heck out of it. I read parts of it most of the day. I’m reading it on the Kindle for iPhone/iPod Touch and it is really simple to read it that way.

Today we did the pool again and then this evening went to the Boca Raton Mall. We hit Macy’s, Sephora and the Apple Store. Eva wanted to play with the computers. I can’t see where she has that interest. We also went to Stir Crazy for dinner and it was so delicious. I had Pad Thai, Calamari and Dry Rub Ribs and Strawberry Lemonade. Strawberry Lemonade is my weakness in the drink world.

Oh and today we took Eva to the playground here at Mimi and Grandpa Dano’s. Eva loved it and I brought my flip. Well I went down the slide and ended up cracking the screen because: 1. I’m too dang big for the slide and 2. The Flip ended up directly under me. The screen is cracked and luckily it still works. Lesson Learned. But Ouch it hurt.

What’s up for tomorrow. Looks like we will make our way to the actual beach in Boynton Beach. I can’t believe how fast this vacation is going.