Tucked away on the back wall of the Write Now exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center is a large piece by Chicago artist Erik DeBat that caught my attention. As a whole, the exhibit features more than 100 artists and explores elements of written communication in various artistic mediums.

I enjoyed the exhibit for several reasons…one of which was that it reminded me of my days in high school print shop where we studied an “old-school” form of printing known as letterpress. Back when letterpress and moveable type printing was invented by Gutenberg in the 1400′s, it revolutionized the world – just as the Internet has revolutionized our world.

While DeBat’s piece is not an example of letterpress printing, I do like its message. It is powerful in its simplicity. In a world where the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” resonates with everybody, this work containing nine words and one big idea, in my mind, flips that phrase around.

The Write Now exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center runs through April 29 and Erik DeBat will be giving a talk there next week on February 14.

If you’ve read this blog for a while, you might know I’m a big Andy Timmons fan. Who is this guy? He’s the former guitar player in the 80′s metal band Danger Danger and current guitar player in Olivia Newton-John’s touring band. But his best work, in my humble opinion, is his solo work.

I attended his guitar clinic in Chicago back in the fall of 2009 and had a chance to hear him jam for a good 45 minutes. He played selections from previous albums and teased us with a few amazing Beatles cover songs he had been working on. He told us a new album of Beatles music would be released in the near future. I was intrigued.

About two years later, Timmons has finally released the CD, Timmons Plays Sgt. Pepper. “Strawberry Fields Forever” is the only non-Sgt. Pepper song on the CD and, as you can see, features some tasty fretwork. It’s a good way to start the weekend…have a good one. New posts will be coming soon…thanks for stopping by…

There’s nothing like the end of the year to help put things in perspective. Television newscasts will share video that revisits key moments throughout the year. Top ten lists remind us of the best and worst in everything including movies, books and music. And we will inevitably be asked, “what’s your New Year’s Resolution?”

This happens every year like clockwork. If you’ve been around enough, it sort of feels like a broken record. We make the same goals year after year: lose weight, stop smoking, start working out, make more money, be a better parent, etc. I know, I’ve been there…repeating many of my same goals year after year.

With the arrival of a new year, the slate gets wiped clean. A new beginning, a great feeling. But change doesn’t happen magically when the new year starts. It happens day to day, moment by moment.

Here’s to making those day to day, moment by moment changes. Happy new day! Happy new minute!

A couple weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending my local district Toastmasters Conference. It was a great learning and networking experience. My favorite part of the day was the session led by champion speaker Darren LaCroix, which gave me additional insights about speaking that I could never have learned at my regular club meeting.

The weekend also got me to thinking about my own situation in Toastmasters. I’ve been a member since 2004 and have made some amazing progress in my speaking and leadership skills since I first joined. But I feel like I’m still learning, still improving…so I continue my membership.

Because of this positive experience, I wanted to share six reasons I feel you should join Toastmasters. As I attend various meetings and networking events, I run into a lot of people with questions and a curiosity about Toastmasters.

Note: I know there are a great number of similar articles and blog posts written on this topic. Here’s my take…

1. You’ll become a better speaker. Yes, it’s almost obvious that by joining Toastmasters, you’ll become a better speaker. When you join Toastmasters, you receive a Competent Communicator’s manual which outlines the first ten speeches you will deliver. You’re also told that “you get out of Toastmasters what you put in.” This is a great reminder that you must put in the work and prepare for your speeches in order to become a better speaker.

I found that as I practiced and prepared for my speeches, I started to improve. By the third or fourth speech, I could feel my confidence growing. Soon after that, I became less reliant on my notes and eventually stopped using them altogether. Of course, all of us learn at a different pace and have different goals. Just know that whatever you want to accomplish, members of your club will be there to support you.

The main reason you become a better speaker is that each of your speeches is evaluated by another member of your club. This means that every time you deliver a speech, you get feedback on what you did right, what you could have done better and tips and suggestions on how to improve. A greater awareness of your weaknesses and tendencies will help you make adjustments and get better – fast.

2. You’ll become a better listener. By watching other members’ speeches and evaluating their performance, you’ll soon become a better listener. Evaluating your fellow club members forces you to really pay attention and listen carefully. This gets you into the habit of listening, absorbing and analyzing…which becomes a great learning opportunity.

Also, most Toastmaster meetings have a grammarian report where word usage is scrutinized and “ahs” and “ums” are counted. This report helps club members become aware of their use of these distracting filler words. As you become more conscious of these words, you’ll be less likely to use them yourself. A warning…eliminating all “ahs” and “ums” from your vocabulary is one of the hardest things to do.

3. You’ll develop stronger leadership skills. In addition to the opportunity to improve speaking skills, members of Toastmasters can take on leadership roles within their club. Opportunities include President, VP of Education, VP of Public Relations, VP of Membership and Treasurer. These opportunities give you an opportunity to lead your club and improve the experience of its members. These skills can be transferred to both your personal and professional life.

As you become more comfortable as a speaker and more experienced in your club, you can serve as a mentor to new members. This will help them improve more quickly and give them increased confidence.

I have served in several leadership roles in my club: VP of Public Relations, VP of Membership and Treasurer. Each of these roles has given me a great opportunity to learn. I know this experience has helped me and will guide me in future opportunities and other areas of my life.

4. Joining Toastmasters will help improve your job interview skills. I keep telling this to everyone I meet who’s under and unemployed. The process of practicing your speech and making sure it’s clear and concise will help you in your interviews.

In the same way you practice a clear, concise delivery of your speeches, I recommend that you practice clear, concise answers to interview questions. I know that this has helped me walk into interviews feeling more confident in my ability to talk about my background and tell quick stories of my accomplishments.

5. Joining Toastmasters will help you think on your feet. Each Toastmasters club has a part of the meeting known as “Table Topics.” During this part, the Table Topics Master lays out a scenario and calls members of the club to the lectern to respond to the statement or answer a question. You might be asked something as simple and fun as “what is your favorite summer vacation memory?” or something complex such as “what should the United States do to solve the current economic crisis?”

The key is to listen carefully and be ready to be called in case you are asked to share. This impromptu and improvisational speaking opportunity will help prepare you for moments of uncertainty in other parts of your life.

6. You’ll expand your network. Toastmasters is a great way to meet new, interesting and successful people. Since joining Toastmasters, I have met many new friends and acquaintances in a wide range of industries. These friends have helped me out in more ways than I can describe and many have become mentors to me. I’ve also had plenty of opportunities to help them, as well.

If all of this sounds intriguing, I invite you to visit Toastmasters.org for more information and to click on the red “find a club near you” button to find out about clubs in your area. Good luck and I’d love to hear about how Toastmasters has helped you.

Flickr Creative Commons photo courtesy of Ross Tsai.

“Count to Ten” by Danish singer/songwriter Tina Dico is one of those songs that had me hooked from the start. I can’t explain it. Sure, I think Tina Dico is beautiful and has an amazing voice. And this video is great because it really captures a live performance of the song that looks and feels flawless.

When I think of the idea of counting to ten, I realize it can be an important one. It could be the difference between sending out a hurtful or negative Tweet or choosing not to send it out. It could be the difference between exploding in anger toward a loved one or cooling down just a bit to explain what is making you upset.

I also like the wisdom in the line from this song: “sometimes, the fastest way to get there is to go slow.” Sometimes, actually many times, this is really true.

Have a great weekend!

It’s been a while since I’ve done a post profiling interesting and noteworthy posts from around the blogosphere. In the past, I included them as “re-blog” posts. Moving forward, I hope to do this on a monthly basis. This month, five topics:

Love. No, it’s not Valentine’s Day. But at a time when our world is filled with plenty of divisiveness, we could use a little old-fashioned love. From last year, Love! Love! Love! from my friend Lori at Jane Be Nimble might be one of my all-time favorite posts. Inspiring, motivating and heartwarming, it’s an example of how all of us can make a big difference in the world through “small” actions. It’s the kind of post that inspires me to be a better human being. Thank you Lori for sharing your love adventure!

While Lori’s project packed a lot of actions in a month, Judi Clement Wall has declared on Zebra Sounds that 2011 would be “a year of loving fearlessly” for her. I know I have missed a few posts, but every time I visit her blog, I am amazed at the high level of creativity and thoughtfulness involved in her writing and projects.

Procrastination. Let’s face it, all of us have been hit by procrastination at one time or another. Farnoosh Brock at Prolific Living tackled this important topic in her 18 Radical Ways to Stop Procrastination post recently. Filled with important tips and suggestions, it gives us some great suggestions to get past this once and for all. Get a pen and paper ready or print it out and put by your desk. Good stuff!

Steve Jobs. We lost a great innovator when Steve Jobs passed away a couple weeks ago. There have been many tributes recently, but I really enjoyed Garr Reynold’s take at Presentation Zen, where he explored Steve Jobs and the art of focus and Steve Jobs on marketing and identifying your core values. As always, Presentation Zen is not only a book by Garr Reynolds about design, but its also a destination where I’ve gained a great deal of information about a wide range of topics. I feel like Garr’s recent posts, which included vintage Steve Jobs videos, gave me some good insights about what Jobs stood for and ideas that I can apply to my own situation.

Work. Let’s face it…finding a job is not easy. Sometimes it feels downright impossible. If you’re in this situation, Afford Anything has a post for you. It might sound harsh, but Stop Crying That There are No Jobs. Create One. shares some thoughts on having a start-up mindset. I can identify with this and love the idea of empowering yourself by creating your own opportunity rather than waiting and hoping for someone to hire you.

One of my favorite people who explores this topic is Pam Slim over at Escape From Cubicle Nation. Not sure about starting your own business? Try the Side Hustle.

Fun.

Have a great weekend!

Creative commons photo courtesy of lizjones112.

This summer, I had the good fortune to attend The Gold Coast Art Fair in Chicago’s Grant Park. It was a hot, humid day and it took a lot of energy to walk around and view the art in all of the different tents. As I stumbled upon one tent in particular, I saw photos of various high school students in front of blackboards with their favorite quotes. I couldn’t explain it, but seeing the photos really mesmerized me.

So I asked Chicago photographer Linda Erf Swift about her project and if she wouldn’t mind answering some additional questions. It came as no surprise to me that Linda was a friendly and accommodating interviewee. I hope you enjoy her photos and the stories behind her project…

How did you get started with the High School Project? What gave you the idea for this project (how did it come about)?

I have always liked being around teenagers and hearing what they’re thinking and saying. I taught high school and middle school Language Arts for several years; did social work with pregnant teens; and when living and working at a west side community center, my favorite part was my group of teen girls. Even before returning to school for a BFA at the School of the Art Institute, I photographed adolescents with their most prized possessions. I worked on that project for over five years, in three countries and several American states.

Our son didn’t like it when we changed family rules for his younger sister, so I used to answer his objections by saying, “Wouldn’t we be pretty stupid parents if we made the same mistakes with both of our children?” Well, the same goes for photography, so I learned from the kids and the next year I asked them to bring a quotation they believed said something about their identity. And there you have the beginning of the current iteration of the High School Photo Project.

Was the book always part of the project or did that come later?

The book wasn’t always in my plans but I found the kids fascinating and I wanted to share them with more people. I believe the thinking of teenagers is habitually hidden from the general public. We have access only to the extremes of adolescence that the news media chooses to share. We learn about the basketball star, the computer whiz who hacks into someone else’s system, and the gang member who shoots an innocent bystander. Sometimes, but usually not, we will see a short paragraph about a student who excels in science or math. In the High School Photo Project, I try to let kids speak for themselves and present themselves to the camera as they choose. In this way the students have an opportunity to communicate their individual identities and the concerns accompanying their often-ignored voices. The book and exhibitions of these photographs help get that message out to a wider audience.

Which is your favorite photo in the project…and why?

I don’t think I can choose just one. In some cases I feel a strong connection to the student or the words they’ve chosen. In some, the resulting image just captivates me. Two examples of that are Rosie and Kyle. Rosie (see above) has an ebullient personality, which I believe you can see in her portrait. But she is, in many ways, a very serious young woman as well. On the questionnaire I ask students to fill in, she answered the sections about community and political involvement in the following way: “I care about not getting shot at the bus stop while I’m on my way to school or work, about how I dress when I go through certain neighborhoods because we are out here being picked off like scabs. It’s a scary thing, this world we live in today.” And “Okay, as an 18 year old kid, I’m not concerned, although I should be, about healthcare reform or prisoners in Guantanamo or our relationship with China. I’m concerned that millions of people in our country are being picked on publicly; that when I’m ready to settle down, I won’t be able to marry in the state I live in; that saying I’m gay is still more effective than, I hate you.” How could I not love a young woman like that? She is carrying the weight of the world on her 17 year old shoulders and yet is willing to stand up on a chair and get her picture taken while baring her soul to me, to my viewers, to those willing to listen to her.

Kyle (see photo below), a quiet young man, had waited patiently while several other students were photographed. When he approached the chalkboard, he started to take his sweater off, saying, “I want my tattoo in the picture.” The teacher in the room said, “You know Ms. Kirby (the Principal) won’t choose your picture for the hallway if you show your tattoo.” Kyle and I were not deterred. We agreed that I would photograph his tattooed arm and then I’d take more shots with his sweater back on. At the time, I had no idea that cropping the photo would lead to such a compelling image, but that’s part of what I love about photography. Even the photographer can be surprised. The tattoo says, “Many are called but few are chosen. Matthew 22:14 Chosen 1”

Have you kept in touch with any of the students you’ve photographed?

Not many, but a few. Rosie attends a university in downstate Illinois and I have a friend there who’s a retired professor. I put the two of them in touch with each other and they meet occasionally for breakfast. It’s nice to know Rosie has a guardian angel in town if she has questions or just needs a knowledgeable adult to talk with. This summer I tried to help Lana (below) find work as an intern in a medical office. It didn’t work out but she is planning to use those contacts next Spring so they can start the process earlier than we did this year. Cross your fingers on that one! She is a pre-med student at a Big Ten university and chose to be photographed in the Chem Lab at King College Prep. She quoted Muhammad Ali and I admired the self-confidence she voiced with her choice of words.

What did you learn from doing this project?

I was surprised by how many of the quotations are related to music and dance. Other lessons were more reinforced than learned from scratch. Kids are inventive, funny, and sensitive. One girl didn’t like her picture so she asked that the principal not hang it on the wall at school. Some are incredibly organized and send me an e-mail when they can’t make our appointment. Others just don’t show up. Some of the boys want the girls to write their quote on the board, as they don’t want to exhibit their less-than-stellar handwriting. That’s not allowed!

In looking at your resume, I see that you haven’t always been a photographer. What did you do for a living before you became a photographer and how did that influence your work on this project?

My first Bachelors degree was in English Comp and Education. That led to several years of teaching middle school and high school English. I then earned a Masters degree in Social Work. At my first job after grad school, I had more administrative responsibilities than I liked and not enough contact with the families our agency served, so I returned to teaching for three years. I had really missed the day-to-day contact with the same kids. That is such an opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life. My next social work job was with a legal assistance project at the Cook County Jail. Not surprisingly, that was quite an education for me! When their funding ran out, I worked in the Maternity Unit at Children’s Home and Aid Society of Illinois. My clients were mostly women who were pregnant and unhappy about it. I facilitated some adoptions, worked with a group of young mothers and met with many others who struggled with the decisions around their pregnancy.

During my fourth year there, I married and got pregnant with our first child. After that I pieced together part time jobs that allowed me to have a flexible schedule and spend more time with my family. I was a landlady and building rehabber for 17 years, the construction-liaison (between school staff and the construction crew) when my kids’ elementary school was renovated and a large addition was added. When our son went to Kenwood Academy (one of the public schools in the H.S. Photo Project), I followed and worked several days a week as a liaison between the school and the community. My own children were not always happy to see me at school as often as they did, but from the parental point of view, it is a great way to know what is going on behind the scenes and avoid potential landmines. My husband says, “you can take Linda out of social work, but you can’t take the social worker out of Linda” and that is probably true. I believe all of my previous jobs have contributed to my involvement in the H.S. Photo Project.

What kind of camera did you use for this project?

I am a Canon person. I started with a Canon EOS-20D and now also have a Canon D5 Mark II. I would love to have a zoom lens for the Mark II 5D but they are so expensive and, I think, prohibitively heavy. I’m working on a solution to this situation.

Did you spend a lot of time editing (and touching up) your photos?

The major adjustment I have to make in post-shoot production is the color correction. I am shooting in schools using available light. There are times when sunlight is coming through a window and the light fixtures in the room are fitted with old incandescent bulbs, with fluorescent tubes, and others with new CFL bulbs. That is a lighting nightmare and often leads to way too much yellow in the photograph. My idea of a good adjustment in Photoshop is one that does not change the meaning or the intellectual / emotional tone of the image but does take away something extraneous that might distract the viewer’s attention away from the image.

Teens have pimples. I don’t make them disappear. Schools have dirty floors and pockmarked walls. If the situation is so distracting that you won’t look at the student or their quote, I will clean it up enough so that your senses are not overwhelmed by scuff marks and scratches. But I always leave enough of what showed up in the original shot to present a realistic picture to the viewer.

Looking forward, do you have any projects that you’re working on now? Do you have any exhibitions coming up?

My Painted-with-Light series is currently on display at Linz and Vail, 2012 Central, in Evanston. It is a coffee shop with fabulous gelato. My work will be there until October 15, 2011.

Your readers can view my website: www.photoatswiftimages.com and should feel free to e-mail me at swiftimages at gmail.com. I do 4 or 5 art fairs / exhibitions a year and would be happy to add folks to my e-mailing list. The next opportunity to see the H.S. Photo Project on display will be the first weekend in December. The details on that are:

Feel free to come. We serve homemade cookies and are all friendly and interested in meeting new visitors.

Linda, I wanted to just thank you again for allowing me to feature you and post your photos. As someone who usually learns about high school students through negative news stories, it was refreshing to see your photos capture a different side of the story. I love the fact that your photos give a voice to high school students who want and need to be heard. It’s also good to learn that your project will continue and evolve as you introduce us to more students. To preview an excerpt of Linda’s book, please visit The High School Photo Project on Blurb. If you are interested in purchasing a book, please contact Linda by email and she will send you directly.

Nearly every year in my adult life, I’ve picked a book or series of books to read during the summer. Marketers and booksellers may refer to these books as a “beach” read…though porches, patios and park benches are great places to read these books, as well. I would say that just about any book is a perfect summertime read, but I typically think of something that’s a quick read and fiction…like a mass market paperback on the New York Times bestseller list.

I have fond memories of reading numerous Stephen King books while laying at the beach and listening to sounds of crashing waves in the background. I also remember reading these books in my room, where I was able to provide a hard rock/heavy metal soundtrack (the perfect background for reading these horror fiction books).

This summer, I stumbled upon an unexpected series of books that captured my attention and quenched my thirst for a good story. I’m referring to Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.

What’s interesting about this, is that 30 pages into The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, I almost put the book down and gave up on it. I was getting impatient as Stieg Larsson spent those pages setting up the story. Truthfully, I was a little bored…and because the story took place in Sweden, I was beginning to fear that the use of various Swedish words was going to be a distraction for me. I was wrong. By page 40, I was hooked and there was no looking back.

Highlighting these books is one of the most interesting characters I’ve ever encountered in the world of fiction, Lisbeth Salander. She’s the “girl” in these book titles. She has piercings and a dragon tattoo on her back, she’s “inter-personally challenged” and she’s mysterious and unpredictable.

The stories are part-mystery, part-intrigue and all drama. The books tackle the themes of political extremism and of violence toward women, which was influenced by a rape that Stieg Larsson witnessed when he was 15.

While I do enjoy reading both fiction and nonfiction books…and I’ve read a good number of books in my time…few books have had me riveted like the books in this series. Larsson does a masterful job of telling the stories and revealing information at just the right moments. He makes you really care about the characters so that you don’t just want to find out what happens to them, you need to find out what happens.

I’m purposefully leaving out a lot of details about the stories because, if you’re like me, you sometimes like to know as little about certain books before reading them. I know I often feel this way when I watch movie trailers of movies I know I want to see. If you’re interested, here’s a description of the first novel.

Sadly, Stieg Larsson passed away of a heart attack at the age of 50 before these books were released. Like one of the main characters, he was a journalist for a magazine in Sweden. Parts of a fourth novel were left behind, but it’s unclear whether another story in this series will be published.

What is clear is that these books by Stieg Larsson are well-crafted stories. I know Swedish versions of the movies have been released and an American version will be on its way. I’m sure those movies are fine, but do yourself a favor and read these books. You won’t be disappointed.

How about you…have you read any of the books in this series? If so, what did you think? What’s your favorite summertime reading memory?

A couple weeks ago, I was fortunate to see a highly entertaining free concert at Millennium Park. The concert was a tribute to guitar legend Jimi Hendrix…only this tribute was performed by San Francisco-based string quartet, Turtle Island Quartet.

I’ve always been a fan of groups and musicians that blend different genres of music…the Police, one of my favorite groups, is a great example as they combine elements of punk, reggae and pop. At the concert, I was amazed to hear how this string quartet pulled off songs by Hendrix, Coltrane and Miles Davis. Needless to say, I was highly entertained and very impressed. And it reminded me that having a wide range of influences is a good thing.

The Quartet played the Hendrix version of this classic Bob Dylan tune…Have a great weekend!

Two weekends ago, I had the good fortune to attend my second WordCamp Chicago event. While last year I felt like a WordPress newbie, this year I attended the event from a more experienced perspective. Many sessions felt like they were geared for the novice WordPress user or someone very new to blogging, but I feel like I still learned a great deal.

That said, I wanted to share a few conclusions I reached from attending the event. Please note that I attended discussions in the “user track” and not the “developer track.” I’m not a developer and felt that the sessions in the developer track might be a little too technical for my tastes.

1. SEO is the ultimate mystery

If the X-Files were still on television, there’s no doubt they would devote an episode or two about SEO. If Sherlock Holmes were still solving mysteries, there’s no doubt the world famous detective, with magnifying glass and MacBook Pro in hand, would not know how to answer questions about SEO. Sitting through the sessions, I realized that figuring out SEO feels like one big conspiracy theory. I also imagined the folks at Google having one big laugh.

In the “unconference” SEO session, I felt more confusion as numerous attendees chimed in their theories about what helps in Google’s search rankings. Are fewer keywords per post more effective? What about the meta description? I left the session with more questions than answers.

Perhaps the best answer given to a question about SEO was given by speaker Nicole Yeary, who recommended we check Google’s SEO Guidelines at the Google Webmaster Tools site. Maybe it wasn’t the magic answer that everyone wanted to hear. But it made a lot of sense.

2. Use a premium blog theme

Back when I switched my blog from Blogger to WordPress, I searched forever for a free theme I wanted to use. I couldn’t make a choice. Without someone to design the look and feel of my blog, I felt a premium theme would give me greater control. I knew my tastes can be a little fickle when it comes to site design and having a premium theme meant that I would probably not have to bother a designer every other day.

But the real reason I think a premium theme is a good choice is that it’s usually updated more frequently. This means less opportunity for the site to get wonky and a site that is likely to be more secure. We heard this at several sessions. And then, of course, there’s one of my favorite sayings – you get what you pay for.

The only reason not to go with a premium theme, I feel, would be for someone just starting out and getting the feel for WordPress. But, if you’re a blogger with the idea of growing a couple years down the line, it might make sense to get a premium theme early.

3. It’s all about content

My favorite presentation of the weekend was delivered by David Murray from re:group in Ann Arbor, MI. I found Murray to be a smart, funny, high energy speaker…and he explored something near and dear to me…content.

Sure SEO and good design will attract people to your site, but it’s the content that will bring them back again and again. It’s also one of my biggest challenges as a blogger.

His discussion about building our content bubble offered plenty of tips on how we can improve our site’s content and reminded me of a mind-mapping exercise. It was an exercise designed to help us get to the core of our blog/website and offered some great suggestions on how to include topics that related to this core subject.

4. We feel like we don’t know enough

As I listened to questions and talked to fellow attendees, I got the sense that most of us feel like we don’t know enough…about SEO, HTML/CSS, social media or whatever. With new products and services being introduced everyday, I sense that many people are scrambling to really keep up with the changes and information. In many ways, we feel like we need to know and do it all. If you’ve been feeling this way, you’re not alone. One piece of advice that I heard (I’m sorry I cannot remember who said this) was that it would probably be best to focus on the 2 or 3 things that are most important to our business.

Most unusual sight seen at the conference: it happened in the bathroom, where I witnessed a gentleman texting while “taking care of business” at the urinal. There are times I feel, in general, that we’re sometimes a little too attached to our gadgets and obsessed with being connected at all times. This was a prime example of that obsession.

Favorite sessions: Besides David Murray’s presentation, I enjoyed Josh Feck’s “Slow Cooked WordPress” presentation, where he compared blogs and web sites to food…and recommended that we set up our blogs and WordPress sites just like we’d prepare a good meal: with great ingredients, skill and care. I also enjoyed Jim Raffel and Shelby Sapusek’s “He Said/She Said” session which is based on their Thursday evening Twitter chats (use #shehechat starting at 8 p.m. Central on Thursday evenings). I found their discussion informative and humorous as they answered questions about SEO, plug-ins, affiliate marketing and all things social media.

So there you have it. I know I’ve left a lot out, but I wanted to touch on a few key realizations while attending WordCamp 2011 Chicago. For more information on the speakers and some slide presentations, visit the WordCamp Chicago web site. I also hear that many of the presentations from the event will be uploaded to WordPress.tv in the next few days and weeks.

How about you…did you attend the WordCamp Chicago event? If so, what did you think? If not, have you reached any conclusions about WordPress, SEO and social media recently? Please share…I’d love to hear what you think.

Photos courtesy of Kurt Scholle.