You’ve got to have an insatiable appetite for exploration.

That can mean whatever you want it to mean. But if you get too comfortable, you might sit back, relax and not even realize you’re missing your life. I found this series of videos and can’t possibly think of a better way to explain why you should spend your life in a state of curiosity.

Eat something you can’t pronounce. From a menu you can’t read.

When I was growing up, we had a rule in our house: you have to try it. My brother and I were not allowed to be picky eaters. We had to take two legitimate bites. If we didn’t like it, we didn’t have to finish it, but not trying something just wasn’t an option. Hearing stories of what my Dad ate during his world travels for work made me curious about food, and I’ve kept that hunger (pun totally intended) into my adult life. Some of my best meals have been from street carts in Shanghai to hole in the wall restaurants in Rome to trailers on the highway in rural Michigan. You never know when something confusing on a plate might be the next best meal of your life.

Try something completely foreign to you. Something you don’t understand or don’t think you can do or that terrifies you.

I’ve written before about living your entire life like a bucket list and I can tell you first hand how something you think might be one crazy adventure just might change your life. I can’t imagine if I’d never picked up a guitar or started messing around with a camera. Fear of the unknown can be paralyzing, but if there is any part of you that finds the skill of another interesting, do yourself a favor and try it yourself.

The same goes for meeting new people. Reach out to people you admire. Ask other people about their lives and interests. You’d be amazed what you don’t know that you don’t know. Or the friends you’ll end up making.

You don’t have to travel the world to find interesting places. Start in your city. Get lost with a friend. Take a different route home. Just for fun.

Finding a spot that makes you feel all tingly inside is the whole point of traveling. Wherever you choose to go, try to get off the beaten path and enjoy seeing things you don’t see every day. While you’re at it, try to really notice what’s going on around you. Know that you can always come home – but going somewhere new before you get there makes it even better.

Plan your next adventure. Enjoy it. Let me know if you need someone to go with you.

It’s always sort of amazing to see how incapable people are of recognizing change as it happens. We need milestones as points of comparisons to make us realize something is different.

This morning I got my daily email from 4sq & 7 years ago, a service that tells you where you checked in the year before on this day. One year ago today I was in a car with Peter Shankman (at that time better known as @skydiver) cruising down the highway outside Chicago to go jump out of an airplane. I lived in Michigan, was working for a company I didn’t feel held much of a future for me, was bored out of my mind on most days and went to Chicago for the weekend because I let my new friend talk me into crossing something off my bucket list.

It was one of the best days of my life. It was the day I realized I wanted to live my bucket list, not talk about it. A year later, I’m living in Chicago, loving my job, spending time with awesome friends, doing a ton of photography and skydiving on weekends. I’m a graduate of the Freefall University AFF Program at Chicagoland Skydiving Center and on track to become a licensed skydiver this summer. One year. I decided what I needed to change and I made it happen.

Sometimes things happen to you or around you that force moments of reflection. And sometimes you have to force yourself into it because you know you need to come out the other side doing things differently. If you even noticed I hadn’t posted anything here in well over two months, you were witnessing the time I took to force myself to recognize change. And, to redirect.

I was spending most of my free time worrying about the content I was creating for one website or another. I needed to step back from the blogging life to look at where I was now compared to where I started when this little writing project came to life. I needed to re-evaluate intentions. My pursuit of being such a widespread content creator was driving me crazy and had become about something completely different than why I’d started.

I talked with colleagues and friends about the types of things I was doing that seemed to matter (and the ones that didn’t). I talked with my mentors about the industry I was attempting to contribute to and how it all seemed to be getting stale. I asked if I was making a mistake by abandoning this stuff altogether. I found myself on a steep learning curve in my new job and needing to focus harder. I stopped making excuses and started getting serious about fitness. I started devoting weekends to jumping out of planes and making new friends who would change my perspective on life. I made time for free time. I went on photowalks. I explored my new city.

And I had enough people ask me why I seemed to be disappearing from the online circles in which I was so active for so long and if I ever planned to come back that I finally knew for sure I was actually contributing something.

So here’s the deal.

• I’m not going to worry about SEO or link love or Google rank or any of the things that seem to be important to a lot of other bloggers and I’m just going to write stuff that matters. Stuff that helps people or makes them think about something in a different way. Stuff that encourages people to get out of their own way or gives a voice to young professionals just trying to figure everything out. Stuff I need to publish somewhere because it’s cathartic to just to write it. Stuff that shows my point of view to people who might want to work with me on something. Stuff that points out positive examples of what’s going well in this industry instead of another post about why a company screwed up. Good PR for Public Relations.
• I’m going to pick back up with the Influencers Series on this blog, because getting to know people offline and learning about what really inspires people I respect really matters to me, and if analytics don’t lie, those posts really matter to other people too.
• I’m going to keep writing for Ragan’s PR Daily, but more in the form of posts you see here. I’ll leave the daily news snippets up to other editors and focus on contributing pieces aimed totally at helping young PR professionals.
• I’m still going to occasionally contribute to Social Fresh, because I believe it’s one of the most legitimate resources out there for serious social media knowledge sharing.
• I’m not going to write about skydiving here anymore. It’s a separate part of my life and I need to keep it that way to maintain sanity. But I will share videos, photos, stories and milestones in a place dedicated to my journey in a place way more appropriately titled: beyond the bucket list.
• I’m going to dedicate a more serious online presence to my photography. Because taking photos makes me happy, and occasionally makes me money. And I like when those two ideas overlap.

If I wake up in six months and feel like that isn’t working for me, then I’ll change it again. Because it’s my life and my time and I’ll do what I want.

And now I’m going to encourage you to do the same thing. Step back from your projects. Take a break and force yourself to look at how you’ve changed. Get a bit of perspective on what you’re contributing and where you’re ready to cut things out to make time for what you really care about. Hopefully you will find yourself totally on track toward your goals and loving what you’re spending your time working on. Hopefully you won’t let things overwhelm you the way I let them overwhelm me for a while. Recognize change and don’t be afraid to act on it.

Don’t wait for a milestone. Create one.

This is a guest post by my friend Aaron Strout. He’s someone I’ve had plenty of interaction with online, but finally met for the first time during SXSW. We had a great first meeting and among all the things we talked about, one thing Aaron said really stood out. He talked about truly being present wherever he was. It’s so easy to scan the room or obsessively check for new tweets in that conference environment and it takes serious, focused effort sometimes to behave otherwise. I asked Aaron to write about it and offer some tips for those feeling a little disconnected to “real” life. Enjoy.

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Be in the Moment
by Aaron Strout

While social networks like Facebook and Twitter provide great opportunities to connect with old classmates, friends, co-workers and family, they can also promote a kind of ADD that leaves us all feeling a little empty. For me, my “social” interactions tend to exhibit the “mile wide but inch deep” syndrome where I feel like I am engaging with lots of people but very few in a meaningful way.

During South by Southwest Interactive — one of the largest interactive conferences in the world — this same “mile wide” issue tends to be exacerbated as many of us who work in the online/social media space come together in Austin, TX for 5 days. The problem is that even over the course of 5 days, one can only connect with so many people beyond a 60 second, “hey, what’s up?” in the hallway.

This year was different for me, however, and much of that is thanks to some very wise words that social smarty and co-founder of the Social Media Club, Chris Heuer, shared during dinner on the Thursday night leading up to SXSW. A few of us were sitting around the table at Art’s Ribs and Jay Adelson, former CEO of DIGG, asked Chris, Jim Storer and me what we wanted to get out of SXSW this year. As someone that has attended three previous SXSW’s, I rolled my eyes and exclaimed that I just wanted to survive this year. Chris paused for a second and then responded with a simple yet profound answer. “Wherever I go, I want to BE there,” he exclaimed. We all chuckled at first and then quickly realized the importance of what he’d just said.

Over the next five days, I took up Chris’ mantra and put it into practice. What I can tell you is that it made for a much richer and more satisfying experience than the typical saccharine feeling I get when spending time with large groups of people. Most fitting was my bookending breakfast with Becky Johns, author of this blog, on the last day of the conference. I had never met Becky in person,  but the two of us have several mutual friends and we decided to connect face to face while she was in Austin. As a result, Becky and I had breakfast at the Driskill talking about our SXSW experiences while reliving meaningful conversations and connections we made during the conference. That hour long conversation was, of course, the inspiration for this post.

While it can be hard to be that focused during any extended period of time, here are six things I kept in mind to help me get the most out of my personal interactions. I plan to use them at any event in the future, big or small.

• When connecting with someone, put your phone, laptop or tablet away. If you are in the middle of sending an e-mail/tweet when you bump into someone, let that person know that you will be with them in a minute and finish what you’re doing so you won’t be distracted.
• Make eye contact and concentrate on not looking around the room/hallway/restaurant. Let the person you’re speaking with  know they are the most important person in the room.
• Ask questions beyond, “hey, what’s going on?” A few that worked for me were, “what was your favorite session so far?” or “what key takeaways have you found?” Once you’ve asked, pay attention to the answer.
• Plan on spending at least 5-10 minutes with that person irrespective of who is in the room or what is taking place. Trust me, these interactions will be more meaningful than anything else you can do while you are at a conference or meeting.
• On the “let’s be realistic” front, if you bump into someone you don’t want to talk to, extend a hug or a handshake and let them know you’re headed to an appointment or an important session. Lying is bad, but it’s easy to get sucked into looking around the room for the next person to talk to or get distracted by your phone if you aren’t emotionally invested in your conversation.
• To take this to the next level, send a tweet, e-mail or Facebook message to the people you talked to after the fact and let them know how much you enjoyed running into them.

Learning to truly be in the moment is an important skill in a world where important interactions are happening in both our physical and digital worlds. How good are you with truly being present? Are you spending meaningful time with the people you want to spend time with? If you aren’t, maybe it’s time to think about how you can change that.

A friend who works with the alumni association at my alma mater asked an interesting question on twitter.

As responses poured in, the overwhelming sentiment was that college GPA matters very little in professional success. While many college students stress over grades, those of us beyond academia and into our professional careers have seen how little it matters in comparison to experience, networking skills and the desire to grow.

Children go through school being taught that a grade is the determining factor in performance. But in the professional world, that’s not how it works. Your bosses won’t tell you which questions will be on the test. You don’t study information to be tested on it once in your job. Your college GPA is a combination of several factors but isn’t really the best indicator of how you’ll perform in the working world. We all know that person with perfect grades who struggles socially or that person who couldn’t care less about school but seems to have no trouble making great things happen in their life. Book smarts and street smarts are very different things.

Take your classes seriously. Do the work. Show up and learn something. Meet your professors. But I’m here to tell you, the GPA you leave college with doesn’t matter. Here’s what does:

Knowing how you learn
Spend some time during college figuring out how you best learn and retain information. Some people need to see it, some need to hear it, some need to write it and some need to practice it before it sticks. As an employee, you’ll need to learn new things as you go, remember them and prove you’ve absorbed the information.

Applying theory to real-life situations
It’s one thing to recite the 4 P’s of marketing or learn how the purchase decision funnel looks on paper, but things won’t always happen in the marketplace the way they do in your textbooks. Learn how to take fundamental information and proven best practices and apply them in new situations or projects. The real world will always throw new variables at you, so knowing how to adapt theory to life is crucial.

Time management
Learn how much time you need to research, write a paper, get to your classes and jobs on time, fit a workout in your day and still have something of a social life. Learning how many hours you have in your day/week and how to divide them up to get everything done is a vital life skill. In your professional life, you’ll need to know how to manage your time to meet deadlines, tackle to-do lists and not want to bang your head against the wall in the process.

Relevant professional experience
Jobs, internships, student organizations and volunteer projects in your industry will prepare you best for the working world. Do as much as you can to really work in your field during college and learn about what you want to do (or in same cases, what you don’t want to do). Your future employer will take your experience as the absolute best indicator for your potential in a new position.

A portfolio proving you can produce work
Keep samples of your best work from classes and internships. Many employers will want to see your work before hiring you. If you’re not building a portfolio through things you’re required to do before you graduate, then produce these things on your own time. Practice writing articles, press releases, pitches, designing publications, compiling clip reports, research summaries or anything else you might be hired to do. Practice is important.

The ability to give and receive feedback
Learning to accept both praise and criticism is incredibly important. You’ll have employee reviews with your boss someday so being able to hear different types of feedback, internalize it and adjust behavior accordingly will matter to your job performance. It’s also important to learn to how to give feedback to others. When you collaborate with colleagues on projects you’ll have to know how to offer both positive and negative comments on others’ work.

Presentation skills
Offer to be the speaker on behalf of your group in your classes and learn how to present your projects as an intern. Being able to convey ideas clearly, speak confidently with your bosses and discussing your experience in interviews will be an important part of your professional life.

Writing skills
It’s sad how many students leave college lacking solid writing ability. Focus on developing this skill because it will matter in everything from reports to pitches to emails. You don’t have to become a blogger, but finding places to practice writing content and having it edited will really help improve your skills.

Your network
You’ve heard it many times: “who you know is more important than what you know.” It’s true. Build your network before you need and get in the habit of meeting new people, nourishing your relationships and helping others by making introductions. You are most likely to find job opportunities through your network. Build it!

Chime in professionals, what else matters more for students than GPA? Or am I wrong? Is GPA more important than I’ve made it out to be?

Last week, Advertising Age debuted a new series called Agency Digs, a peek inside advertising agency offices based on guided tour style of MTV Cribs. The very first office featured was the New York office of the agency I work for, Cramer-Krasselt. Check out the video, it’s pretty cool.

Lucky me, part of my job that day was to take some behind the scenes photos of the shoot. Before you ask, yes, Corona Extra and Crocs are clients.

One of my favorite things about our New York office is that employees can bring their dogs to work. A few of the office dogs were there the day of the shoot. Who doesn’t love having pups around to pet and play with?

Today I came across the keynote Mitch Joel delivered at Radian 6′s Social 2011 Conference last week in Boston. It’s incredible. If you care about social media, you need to watch it. If you care about marketing, you need to watch it. If you care about how communication is evolving, you need to watch it. If you care about how technology has impacted our assumptions about access to and experiences with information, you need to watch it. If you’ve ever had a customer or ever want a customer, you need to watch it.

It’s about 45 minutes and the video is broken up into 4 parts. If you don’t have the time or focus to dedicate to it right now, bookmark this and come back later. But, I PROMISE this keynote is worth seeing if it’s your job to communicate with anyone on behalf of your company or client. While you’re at it, you might want to show your boss, too.

Without a doubt, this is the best keynote I’ve ever seen that looks at the big picture of where digital communication fits in with the broader landscape of media – both traditional and social. “Social” is a mindset, not a sales tactic. Be ready to take notes. Some seriously important takeaways for the future of business are here.

Bravo, Mitch.

Taking portraits is one of the most fun parts of being a photographer. When you manage to snap a great shot of someone, one that totally captures personality and evokes a feeling, it’s a great way to bond to your subject forever. Capturing just the right image can be a challenge, especially when shooting outdoors. While the environment can be a little more challenging than a controlled light setting, natural light can be your friend when trying to achieve an effortless, natural look.

There are several simple things you can do to take great portraits when you’re shooting outdoors. Follow these eight rules and your portrait taking skills are sure to improve. I’ve included an example illustrating each point so you can see what it looks like in practice.

1. Get in the shade
Trying to position your subject in the shade will help eliminate the need to squint their eyes because of the bright sun, so the face and eyes will be more relaxed and natural. Plus, when you’re shooting in the bright sun, it’s easy to over expose the shot. In the shade, you can shoot with a larger aperture without risking over exposure and will have more uniform light no matter what your subject is wearing and the colors you’re working with in the background.

2. Know your angles
Pay special attention to the shape of your subject’s face and the way they naturally sit and place their arms. Try to work with a position that comes naturally, but be mindful of some common portrait issues.

Be sure the eye line between you and your subject is natural and doesn’t look uncomfortable. If you are higher than your subject, you will tend to get a flattering face and body angle. Have your subject sit while you stand. You don’t need much height difference, even standing on a higher step or standing up on a bench should be enough.

Have your subject open their shoulders a bit toward you, keep the chin down and be sure their face is positioned to catch the light. Using this angle will also eliminate the “double chin” issue many portrait subjects are uncomfortable with. Many times, it’s all in their mind, but this is a good way to help prevent it.

3. Use light and shadow with purpose
Strategic use of shadows and contrasting light angles can help set the mood of a portrait and make it a little more “artsy.” There’s an element of mystery when shadows are used correctly. Have enough light to tell the story and just enough shadow to leave something to the imagination. During your shoot, play around a little bit with your subject’s angle relative to the light to see what works best for their face.

4. Get the candid moment
Sometimes the best portraits happen when the subject isn’t focused on the photographer. It’s okay to have distractions around and it’s important to be ready with the camera even when your subject isn’t posed and ready. Keep your finger on the shutter and keep the subject in focus. If you see a moment, a look, a special twinkle in the eye, snap the shot. It’s not always about eye contact and smiles.

5. Use a reflector
One of the best investments you can make for your photography career is buying a set of reflectors. You can get them pretty inexpensively, a set of 4 colors (white, black, silver and gold) for under $25. Sometimes it will make most sense to shoot your subject with the light at their back, and in that case, having a reflector handy to push light back onto their face will make a huge difference. It will help achieve some sparkle in the eyes even when the main light source is behind your subject’s face.

If you don’t have reflectors handy, you can use something as simple as a piece of white poster board or a white sheet. These won’t work as effectively, but in a bind, with limited supplies they will often do the trick.

If you have someone with you to help assist, it’s easier to adjust the angles as needed. If not, keep some clamps with your camera bag or tripod so you can set up a reflector and still have both hands free for your camera.

6. Focus on the eyes
In any portrait situation, your focal point should be right between the eyes. If you need to adjust your camera’s focus points so they’re in the right position in the frame, check out your camera manual for how to make the necessary changes. Don’t worry if you’ve lost it, most can be found in PDF format on the manufacturer’s website.

If you’re shooting with a lens with autofocus, be sure to lock in on the eyes then move the camera to create the framing of your subject you want. If you’re shooting manual focus, it’s a little more tricky. Keep your own eyes locked on your focal point until you’re sure you’ve got it.

If you’re shooting with a zoom lens, try zooming in as close as you can, focusing on the eyes, then zoom out until you’ve got exactly what you’d like in the frame. It can be tough to tell from far away if you’ve got the right focal point. This is a good habit to try to solve that common problem.

7. Check your background
Don’t underestimate the importance of what is behind your subject. Solid or big blocks of color are easy to work with, as are simple geometric shapes like brick walls or steps. If it’s too colorful or contains too many different shapes, it can detract from of the portrait subject. Also think about where your subject is positioned within the frame and how much of the background you want to include to help drive the eye to where you want it.

8. Make ‘em laugh
If your subject gets too focused on posing or smiles too long, the face can become tense and the smile will start to look a little fake. Be sure to mix it up a bit an keep it fun. Try to make your subject laugh once in a while, and be ready with your camera when you do. That is the time to snap the shutter a few times.

Don’t know how to bring some fun into it? Try being quiet for what seems like an awkward amount of time. Subjects will often laugh to help ease the tension. You might also try simply saying “dont laugh!” in a humorous voice. Somehow, people tend to laugh only once told not to. Be smiling, keep the conversation lighthearted and make it easy for your subject to feel comfortable with your camera in their face. Of course, if you’re close with your subject, feel free to mention some inside jokes or comments you know will bring out a giggle.

Your job as a photographer is to really capture your subject’s personality and produce an image they’ll be proud to use as a representation of themselves. What questions do you have? What issues do you face during outdoor shoots that aren’t addressed here?

Have you ever seen a band perform that seems effortlessly in sync? It’s a wonderful thing to watch a group of people, all responsible for a different part of a song work together toward that perfect harmony. Though it might seem strange to compare, a great PR team should be built to function the same way. Think about the role each person on your team plays toward the greater goal.

You’ll need a drummer. Someone with a good sense of rhythm, timing and a natural ability to keep the beat. This person will be a great project manager and will have an easy time keeping track of the status of a campaign or project and have an eye on the timeline and budget. Be sure you’ve got a team member assigned to keep things moving at the right pace.

You’ll need a lead singer. This person should be comfortable with a front and center role and has to be comfortable in the spotlight. This person should be a good presenter, a good public speaker, have confidence in conveying the team’s ideas, have good media training and be comfortable speaking about the team’s progress with management or the client. Having a point person associated with the project makes it easier for other colleagues to funnel information to the team through a visible source.

You’ll need backup singers. A lead vocalist will only sound better with a strong supporting staff to fill in the harmony. These people are talented, know the music (project) and know how to play a supporting role. For every great superstar, there are likely a handful of people who don’t want the spotlight but want to significantly contribute to the success of a campaign. Build a strong staff who can stay on track behind the scenes and work well with the rest of the team.

You’ll need someone on acoustic guitar. It’s so important to have someone with a really solid understanding of what you’re working on who is able to step back from the project and all its creative elements and strip it down to the basics to make sure you’re building your campaign on a solid foundation. With all the bells and whistles stripped away, are your messaging efforts focused on insights and communication methods that are right for your audience?

You’ll need a lead guitarist. Someone who just wants everything to sound great but knows how to add a little flare. On your team, this person should keep the big picture in mind, work toward the common goal, but also know how to pepper in some fun ideas and flavor. It’s good to be a risk taker, especially during brainstorming. It’s good to push the envelope and be a little fearless when it comes to crazy new tactics and ideas. It’s okay to steal the show for just a moment, as long as that moment builds toward the ultimate campaign goal.

When you hear a great song and see a great performance, it works because everyone has a role to play, is great at their job and is focused on making the right contribution toward the final project. PR campaign teams should work the same way. Let your favorite band lead by example.

Now go rock on.

Few things are as lovely as springtime in New York City. I spent a few days in our New York office for work last week and managed to snag about an hour of free time to wander around with my camera. Lucky for me, the trees were in bloom and flowers were starting to pop up in the parks. The office is at 20th and Broadway, a short walk from several great places to snap photos: Union Square Park, Madison Square Park, the Flatiron Building and the interesting architecture in the Flatiron and Fashion Districts.

I decided to stick with the 50mm f/1.4 lens for this short photowalk, to play around a little with depth of field and capture the wonderful spring colors. Of all the lenses I’ve shot with, the 50 seems to bring out the best, brightest colors since it lets in so much light.

Finally getting the chance to connect with C.C. Chapman at SXSW was a major highlight of the conference for me. He and I had spoken many times, mostly over twitter and have bonded often over our mutual passion for photography. We found ourselves at the same party the second afternoon of the conference, recognized each other right away and hugged out our new friendship. Only in this social media world can you feel like you’ve known someone for years and jump right into meaningful conversation upon your first physical meeting.

We managed to schedule some time to have breakfast while in Austin and spent the morning chatting about taking photos, creative passion projects and admiring the beautiful scenery behind the Four Seasons hotel in Austin. That time totally reinforced why C.C. is someone I consider an influencer.

Part of what comes along with this Influencers Series is shooting a portrait of each person I feature. Most of the time it’s easy, but taking portraits of another photographer is a little more difficult for some reason. Maybe because you know the other person, like you, tends to be more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it. I managed to get a shot that totally captures C.C.’s infamous smirk and happy personality and discussing how we both approach portrait shoots was really interesting. Of all the interviews I’ve done for this series so far, bonding with someone over a shared passion has been one of the highlights.

In addition to being an extremely talented photographer, C.C. co-authored Content Rules, a really great business book aimed to help marketers and communicators create compelling content around their brands, products and ideas. He’s also the founder of Digital Dads, an online community focused on fatherhood. He’s an incredible speaker, inspiring blogger and a great person to follow on twitter.

As we got to talking about passion, he told me about growing up learning about photography from his grandfather. From shooting on his very first Bugs Bunny camera to learning how to develop photos in a darkroom, from a very early age C.C. enjoyed capturing his world through photographs. It was fun to see how his face lit up talking about it and also how this hobby and passion of his informed some of what he wrote about in Content Rules.

The thing I love most about other photographers is hearing them talk about about how they see the world differently than most. It’s nice to find friends who notice the little hidden beautiful things and are able to see the world as a collection of moments to snap the shutter. I highly recommend checking out CC’s work on Flickr and connecting with him. He’s definitely one of the good guys.

Check out the rest of the Influencers Series.