I published this post on my old blog back on Mother’s Day 2010. Inspired by @xeni‘s stream on Twitter this morning, I decided to repost it here. This post is dedicated to all the moms out there who have made tremendous sacrifices for their families and to those who have lost their mothers way too early…you are appreciated and remembered every single day.

i decided not to send my mother a card or flowers for mother’s day. instead, i thought i’d write up a post. i think my mom appreciates my words more than anything else.

mothers are born. my mom is a strong woman who has sacrificed a significant portion of her life to take care of her family. as some of you may know from reading previous posts here, my parents first child and my only sibling, gina, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 8 and battled for 3.5 years before passing away in 1994. both of my parents, along with the rest of my family, were by gina’s side through it all, but the one person who was there for every single moment of her fight was my mother.

as i get older and realize what real love is i am only beginning to understand what this must have been like for her (as well as my father). i’m sure my mom has heard here and there from various people that she is so strong and commend her for what she did and how she handled it, but i know i have never had that conversation with her and i think today is a good day and this is a good way to let her know that she deserves more than just a passing compliment on the ability to “move on” about something so difficult.

this post is not meant to be morbid or depressing. there are many parents out there who have lost a child – either when the child was very young or as an adult – and i’m sure days like today are very challenging for them to get through. i remember hearing my mom say that a parent never expects to outlive their children, nor do they want to.

so, in honor of my mom, and other moms out there who experienced the loss of their child/children, i want to wish you all an extra special mother’s day because you’ve had to deal with the one situation no parent would ever want to experience in their lifetime. whether you have other children or not, you’re still the mother of the child who passed away and that is still something to celebrate – even though it may feel strange because they are no longer with you physically – your connection to that life, however brief or long it was, deserves to be celebrated, remembered, and shared.

through everything my mom had to deal with when my sister was going through treatments and the aftermath of her death, my mom (and dad) tried their best to give me a rich childhood, full of opportunities to pursue my dreams. it wasn’t easy and i will never pretend that it was – for me or for them – but i know my parents worry that maybe they didn’t do something right or made mistakes. and when there’s an event like what my family went through in the mix of normal family life – those concerns are magnified.

so my mother’s day gift to you, mom, is to let you know that you did a good job and not to worry. i’m thankful for everything you helped me with through the years and i know you’ll be there for me no matter what. more people should know your story and you shouldn’t be afraid to share the experience you went through. other mothers out there who are dealing with similar situations are probably looking for a person like you to confide in, relate with, and feel like they are not alone. i hope you feel appreciated and respected for your experiences and the sacrifices you made – and continue to make. stepping back and thinking about what you went through as another human being – regardless that you’re my mom – is moving and inspiring. don’t underestimate what you’ve provided our family.

gina made you a mom. i’m probably making you crazy. but, at the end of the day, you will always be the mother of two. happy mother’s day.

From Ohio to LA, NYC to Europe, I’ve been on an exciting career and life path that has presented me with absolutely awesome opportunities to do work that I love with some of the most interesting, creative and inspiring people around. For those of you who have been following along with me for the last few years, you might be familiar with my story and the journey I’ve documented along the way here in this digital world…for those of you who are new, welcome! Here’s a little background and the latest update…

Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every opportunity that has presented itself and every decision I’ve made have led me to where I am today. My life has been rich in experiences that few have had or will ever have and that is something that I truly appreciate and deeply value. I’ve enjoyed every step along my journey and, most of all, have sincerely enjoyed sharing these moments with you online (and for some of you, in the real world, as well).

When one man, for whatever reason, has the opportunity to lead an extraordinary life, he has no right to keep it to himself. – J. Yves Cousteau

The drive I have for living my life to the fullest and for making the most of myself while on this planet comes from the one person who has inspired me more than anyone else: my sister, Gina. The spirit, passion and strength she had during her battle with cancer fuel every single day of my life. It is because of her that I have always sought meaning in all that I do, no matter how minuscole or major.

It is with sincere gratitude and excitement that I’m extremely happy to announce that I will be joining Cancer Treatment Centers of America at Western Regional Medical Center in Goodyear, Arizona as a Public Relations Specialist this May. I’m really looking forward to being a part of this amazing, compassionate team of people who provide what is known as the CTCA Mother Standard® of care for all of their patients across the U.S. Their focus on treating the “whole-person” is just one of the many remarkable features about CTCA. It will truly be an honor for me to share their stories with you here and across the web.

I have always hoped that I would find a way to bridge my desire to help others, especially those dealing with cancer as a patient, caretaker, family member or friend, with my love for media and communications. I believe I have finally found that perfect combination with Cancer Treatment Centers of America. If you’re not familiar with CTCA, I invite you to check out their website and follow along with their updates on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube channels: CTCA at Western Regional Medical Center and CTCA (Corporate). The team is constantly sharing valuable information from doctors and experts related to living a healthy life, in addition to its more cancer focused updates and inspiring stories from patients.

Again, I’d like to thank the team at CTCA for bringing me on board and I can’t wait to get started next month!

What you do for yourself alone dies with you; what you do for others and the world remains and is immortal. - Albert Pike

As always, a special thanks is in order for my super supportive family and friends who are my #1 network and foundation. To my digital crew: thank you for reading, sharing, commenting and following along with my adventures. I’m excited to share this next chapter with you.

- Leah

P.S. I’d also like to thank the team over at itive.net who I worked with over the last year and a half on some fantastic projects. They just released their new website and line of services that you should definitely take a few minutes to check out. I learned so much from them and had a great time working together with their team and clients.

Every now and then, I mosey on over to YouTube’s blog and check in on their stats to see how things are going. The answer? Well, pretty darn good considering this: “500 years of YouTube video are watched every day on Facebook, and over 700 YouTube videos are shared on Twitter each minute.” 500 years every day?! Mind boggling!

Here’s some more supporting evidence of our ever-increasing consumption of online video and its importance in the business world. According to a recent article from eMarketer, there is a 60% chance that a US consumer will watch an online product video and more than half of the US population is expected to watch online videos in 2012.

More impressive stats taken directly from YouTube’s site:

Traffic

• 60 hours of video are uploaded every minute, or one hour of video is uploaded to YouTube every second.
• Over 4 billion videos are viewed a day
• Over 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month
• Over 3 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube
• More video is uploaded to YouTube in one month than the 3 major US networks created in 60 years
• 70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the US
• YouTube is localized in 39 countries and across 54 languages
• In 2011, YouTube had more than 1 trillion views or almost 140 views for every person on Earth
• YouTube Partner Program
• Created in 2007, we now have 30,000+ partners from 27 countries around the world
• We pay out millions of dollars a year to partners
• Hundreds of partners are making six figures a year
• Partner revenue has more than doubled for four years in a row

Monetization

• YouTube is monetizing over 3 billion video views per week globally
• 98 of AdAge’s Top 100 advertisers have run campaigns on YouTube and the Google Display Network
• Hundreds of advertisers are using TrueView in-stream and 60% of our in-stream ads are now skippable

Product Metrics

• We have more HD content than any other online video site
• We have thousands of full-length movies on YouTube
• 10% of YouTube’s videos are available in HD
• YouTube mobile gets over 600 million views a day, and traffic from mobile devices tripled in 2011
• The YouTube player is embedded across tens of millions of websites

Content ID

• Content ID scans over 100 years of video every day
• More than 3,000 partners use Content ID, including every major US network broadcaster, movie studio and record label
• We have more than eight million reference files (over 500,000 hours of material) in our Content ID database; it’s among the most comprehensive in the world. The number has doubled in the last year
• Over a third of YouTube’s total monetized views come from Content ID
• More than 120 million videos have been claimed by Content ID

Social

• 500 years of YouTube video are watched every day on Facebook, and over 700 YouTube videos are shared on Twitter each minute
• 100 million people take a social action on YouTube (likes, shares, comments, etc) every week
• An auto-shared tweet results in 6 new youtube.com sessions on average, and we see more than 500 tweets per minute containing a YouTube link
• Millions of subscriptions happen each day. Subscriptions allow you to connect with someone you’re interested in — whether it’s a friend, or the NBA — and keep up on their activity on the site
• More than 50% of videos on YouTube have been rated or include comments from the community
• Millions of videos are favorited every day

Which one of these stats is most impressive to you? How are you using video for your business? Share in the comments below!

Baseball season is underway, which makes me a happy gal. We had a great time at the Toledo Mud Hens game the other day, even though they lost. Going out to the ballpark with family and friends is one of my favorite things to do this time of year! I think it makes it feel like summer is officially around the corner. Though I have been to several MLB games, I really enjoy the atmosphere at 5/3 Field for the old Hens.

Side note: There is one MLB game I haven’t been to yet that needs to happen – the Yankees. It’s on my bucket list. How about you? Do you have a favorite minor league team? Any major league game you’re hoping to get to one day? Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks! Have a favorite song about baseball? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

A compelling story is often one that has an interesting and unique angle or perspective. I was recently impressed with GE Healthcare’s video which tells the story of its healthcare employees and their experience meeting up with cancer survivors – a group of people who benefitted from GE’s machines that both detected their cancer early on and that after treatments determined it was gone. The video is very well produced, but aside from its high production value, it also reveals the more human side of building medical machinery. Not something we think about every day. The idea to bring these two groups of people together was a great way to illustrate the impact these employees’ work has on the world and gave them the opportunity to meet the people who were impacted the most and likewise gave the cancer survivors an opportunity to meet the people behind the technology that assisted in their recovery. Have a look…

It’s true. I’m slightly obsessed with quotations. I really try not to overuse them, but they inspire me to think about the deeper things in life. I’d like to share one of my personal favorites with you today. It is so simple, yet full of meaning and gives me peace of mind every time I read it. I think it touches on the most important aspects of our existence and how we can choose to navigate the world. There’s so much negative news that I think we can get caught up in really starting to believe that all hope is gone and we’re headed towards inevitable extinction. Though there are definitely serious issues that demand our attention and action, there is still beauty in the world and – most importantly – in people. This is the philosophy that drives my thoughts and actions. How about you…what’s your favorite quotation? Share it in the comments below! Have an amazing weekend! Cheers!

“Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.” – Max Ehrman

I am really into celebrating birthdays – not just my own, by the way. I’ll celebrate your birthday like it’s my job. We should all be thankful for every single day of life we have on this planet, but birthdays are especially great days to say ‘thank you’ for another year of living, laughing, loving, learning, being, doing, thinking, and what have you. This year I had a particularly awesome birthday in Murano and Venice, Italy.

It was so nice to be offline for a full 12 hours, truly enjoying the presence the day had to offer – the warm sun, blue sky, the smell of Spring and salt water in the air. I don’t know about you, but it’s not very often that I can get away from my computer or iPhone for that long. Though I did take some photos and video snippets, I did my best not to live behind the lens. Which made me think of you…us. This shared world we’ve created on the Internet. Are you taking the time to really live offline? Or has ‘real life’ just turned into a production studio? Of course, we like to share our stories and adventures. There’s definitely nothing wrong with that. This is just another friendly reminder to unplug, fully enjoy every moment and eventually share later if you so desire. Real-time updates are great for breaking news and special event coverage. But, make sure you’re present in your daily life. So, I invite you to disconnect this weekend, do something away from your computer and be aware of those beautiful details all around you that make life worth living.

As always, thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts. I wish you all a fabulous weekend!

SXSW Flashback. I went to SXSW for the first time in 2009 and then again in 2010. It is a super-fun-and-fantastic festival that attracts some very interesting, innovative and creative people from all over the world. Interactive is definitely cool and worth your while, but I also highly, highly recommend staying for the music portion of the fest if you can take the additional time off.

Here are some video highlights of my maiden voyage to Austin 3 years ago. You can watch the full playlist on my YouTube channel. Please forgive the less than professional video/audio quality, but I was just having some fun – the purpose of my trip was more of a mini-vacation that year, not for work. These were filmed on my Kodak Zi6 that would sadly be stolen almost exactly one year later in New York City. Unfortunately for you, I do not have any footage of my birthday celebration that took place at the Devo concert. But that definitely happened. Whip it, whip it good. Enjoy!

Have you been to SXSW? Are you going this year?

Linkedin has made it possible for you to have a visualization of your professional network. Just go to Linkedin Maps to quickly make your own.

To summarize my map, I am apparently in the center of a colorful media triangle between Los Angeles, New York City, and Toledo with some sprinkles of entrepreneurial/tech contacts in San Francisco, Finland, and Italy. Pretty cool, no?

Are you on my map? Let’s connect!

It’s 2012 and the year is off to a great start. I really can’t believe we’ve gone through January already. Time is flying, as they say. One cause of losing track of time might be the latest craze around the social media world: Pinterest. In case you haven’t heard, pinning is the new liking and it’s having quite an impact. Especially in the fashion, bridal and cooking industries. But a variety of businesses are finding unique ways to use this image-based social network to connect with their target audiences. I’ve been enjoying the experience so far and am following the Pinterest news quite closely. How about you? Are you pinning? What do you think of this new platform? As always, I look forward to reading your thoughts.

What if we could have a Google Street View of all the awesome, difficult-to-get-to places in the world? Well, the folks over at Wieden + Kennedy, in support of the new 2012 Honda Civic launch, created an “interactive 360 degree online experience” inspired by just that.

“Off the Grid” takes people beyond the ordinary and allows them to virtually explore places that they would otherwise probably never have the opportunity to see in real life. Except maybe that old sign yard in Vegas. I’m always impressed by the crew who films these sort of things. I’d have a hard time keeping my balance in some of those places, let alone having to carry or swim with all that equipment. Nevertheless, I would jump on the opportunity to create something like this. Who wouldn’t love to dangle 3D cameras from helicopters and bring exclusive, interactive footage to people all over the world? Amazing. da Vinci would be proud.

As 2011 comes to an end, some interesting statistics and numbers are being released about online video. Let’s have a quick look together, shall we?

According to a recent report from comScore, more than 200 billion online videos were viewed across the globe in October of 2011. Where did people watch all of those videos? Let’s see if you can guess…scroll down slowly for the answers.

Who watched the most videos during the month of October 2011?
Canadians with an average of 303.7 videos per person, then the U.S. with 286.3 videos per person, followed by the UK with 268.6 videos per person.

Interestingly enough, in another report by comScore, 15% of online videos viewed in November 2011 were advertisements.

comScore reports, “Americans viewed 7.2 billion video ads in November, with Hulu generating the highest number of video ad impressions at more than 1.3 billion, followed by Tremor Video in second with 1.1 billion.”

In a report from emarketer.com, mobile video consumption is on the rise and expected to keep growing.

“In 2011, US smartphone viewers represent 90% of the mobile video population, according to eMarketer estimates. By 2015, this percentage will rise to 98.5%.”

So what do all these percentages and predictions mean for you? Well, for starters we can see that the use of video as a means of marketing, advertising and promotion is a good investment. With a global viewing audience and a large window of opportunity to catch your target market in an engaging way, online video is something you and your team should give serious consideration to if you haven’t already. Keep in mind where people are watching (YouTube, Facebook, etc) and how they are watching (mobile, tablets, personal computers, etc).

Have some interesting stats to share? Did you invest in online video marketing or advertising this year? Are you planning to in 2012? Share your examples or ideas here.

Work, sleep, play, work, work, sleep, work, play, work, work, sleep, work. It has been an exciting and intense year so far working with itive.net and we’re almost ready to share what we’ve been up to for the last few months.

But if you head over to the site right now, you’ll get a “sneak peek” of our new design and you can watch the latest video we whipped up over here in the itive studios.

As always, I would love to get your feedback on the design and video, so feel free to drop me a comment below.

I posted this Facebook Privacy [INFOGRAPHIC] yesterday from allfacebook.com on my Facebook page and got some feedback from one of our Strategists at itive – international Facebook expert and accredited communications consultant, Annette Schwindt, that I’d like to share with you here. Annette’s comments are in italics next to each quoted item, which were taken directly from the [INFOGRAPHIC] mentioned above.

1. “Every friend sees your activity” – not every friend sees your activity, but every person who can see your activity in the first place can theoretically see the notification about it in your profile and those who are subscribed to you (subscribers and friends) who belong to those people in line 1 get a notification about it in their ticker.

2. “Redefining history from timeline” – only if you hadn’t defined a special privacy for your posts before (many people didn’t bother because the wall could be defined separately and had priority over the posting privacy) – but can be redefined in one click.

3. “Frictionless Sharing” – only if you haven’t told your browser to delete cookies once you close it.

4. “Your friend list” – not if you define the privacy of your friend list.

5. “Monitoring Posts” – can be defined per posting or all in one.

6. “Watch out for the Open Graph” – only if you allow them to do so (and in fact this is what these new social apps are for – so if you don’t want it: don’t use them).

Got any questions? More tips to add? Leave them in the comments below. Thanks again to Annette for the clarification on these 6 points.

Bowling Green State University – my alma mater – has released this amazing video above to promote the new Stroh Center, BGSU’s new arena and convocation center. I just happened to catch the link from ESPN’s College Basketball Blog being passed around on Facebook this morning. I’m really impressed by the video quality and rapping talent. This could have easily been disastrous, but it’s charming, informative and funny. It’s nice to see that the donors were totally down for their roles in the video, too. What good sports! I’m so happy to see that the Falcons took a risk in how they would tell the world about the center. This definitely beats your standard press release. High five to Madhouse Creative who did an excellent job with production. I think I might actually try to catch a game there the next time I’m in the neighborhood. I’d like to see this $10 million facility in person. Unfalconbelievable! Go Falcons!

“A master at the art of living makes no distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues with excellence what he is about and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. He himself knows he is always doing both.” – Wilfred A. Peterson

The very first computer I remember using was the Amstrad PC – 1512 around 1990.
My uncle Jon won it in a contest at work, Highland Electronics in Toledo, Ohio (no longer in business) and brought it home for the family to use.

At that time, my older sister Gina and I were living together with my grandparents – along with Joe and Jon, my mom’s two youngest brothers – while my parents were building a new house in the suburbs. I always wanted to be the one who put the floppies in the slots, so I could push the little latches down. I guess it made me feel important. As a 6 year old there wasn’t much for me to do on that computer except to play California Games. I was a big fan of rollerskating. Gina, however, relentlessly criticized my skating strategy and made me feel like a loser, as only older siblings are capable of doing.

About one year later, we moved into our new neighborhood leaving the Amstrad behind. But soon after we moved we got some devastating news. At the age of 8, Gina was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and would need to immediately undergo surgery, chemo and radiation. Needless to say, the excitement of being in our new home quickly dissipated when we had to make room for a hospital bed and medical equipment instead of new, normal furniture.

Gina and our family got involved right away with the Children’s Miracle Network and the Make-a-Wish Foundation in Toledo. When it was time for Gina to make her request with Make-a-Wish, she asked for an Apple IIGS and a limo ride to Mancy’s Steakhouse. Classy little lady she was.

I still remember how excited she was about getting that Apple computer. She was literally jumping up and down, screaming. I think we have that on VHS somewhere. Of all the things she could have wished for, it was an Apple IIGS. Not to go to Disneyland, not to meet a celebrity. Over the next few years, she and I would spend so much time on that thing playing Where in the World is Carmen San Diego, Oregon Trail, and writing crazy stories and songs in the word processor – Apple Works or Apple Writes? Because of her treatments, Gina also had to be home-schooled during this time, so having the Apple IIGS made doing schoolwork much easier. No more using Dad’s trusty electric typewriter.

Anyway, around this time we also started getting into Nintendo games and spent quite a bit of time playing Mario Brothers. We eventually got a Super Nintendo, as well, and Gina was particularly obsessed with the game Yoshi. She liked when the baby Yoshis hatched out of the eggs.

As some of you might already know from reading previous posts, Gina’s battle with cancer did not end the way we had all hoped it would. On October 19th, 1994, she peacefully passed away in what I now refer to as my parents’ home. Though a sad chapter in my family’s story and of my childhood, Gina and I still managed to have some good times during her 3 year fight with cancer thanks to our creative imaginations, the Apple IIGS, Nintendo games and, of course, our close friends and family members – and Spice!

When I found out Steve Jobs passed away last Wednesday, it was already Thursday here in Finland. We just got done watching the Bob Dylan documentary Don’t Look Back on Andrea’s MacBook. I had just looked up who Joan Baez was and wrote “People talk of situations/Read books, repeat quotations/Draw conclusions on the wall” on Facebook from my MacBook. I checked my Twitter stream “one last time” before bed on my iPhone 4. The first tweet I saw was from @thatdrew with the hashtag #fuckcancer. How sad, I thought. “Drop in the Sea” by Kula Shaker was running through my head while I started reading through all the Tweets about Jobs’ death. I read Jobs actually dated Baez when he was in his 20s. I read all of his great quotations. I finally read his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford. I wondered why I never read – or watched – it before.

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart…

And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent.”

My sister’s death, though tragic, became my source of inspiration and motivation to make the most out of my life. I saw at a young age how quickly and unexpectedly a life can end. Steve’s words hit home with me. His ideas about death have always been in my heart, but I don’t think I’ve ever articulated them quite so perfectly. “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.” I’ve often asked myself, if I died tomorrow would I be happy with the way I spent my last day alive? It’s a good way to keep in touch with my spirit.

It is sad the world has lost someone like Steve Jobs – and it is especially sad for his wife, children and loved ones – but what he did for the world during his lifetime is absolutely incredible. He has affected all of our lives. Not only with his passion for technology, but also with his passion for living.

My wish is that one day soon, we can stop having cancer as the “thing” that has touched all of our lives in some way. Whoever finds that cure… well, I hope they’re on this planet now and working on it…

P.S. If Gina were still alive today, I know without a doubt that she would be a huge Apple fan, owning every piece of Apple tech from the last 2 decades. Technology was just starting to get cool for us kids back in the early ’90s and she was already pretty passionate about it as an 8 year old girl growing up in Toledo, Ohio.

As for me, well, after some poor decision making during my high school and college years – buying a couple of Compaqs, a Dell laptop (WTF was I thinking?) and a Blackberry (Srsly?) – I finally regained my senses and became a Mac again. Side note: As long as Apple continues to be as awesome as it is today, I will never buy a non-Apple piece of technology again, particularly in regards to computers and phones. There’s no reason to waste your time or money thinking anything else could even come close to what Apple has perfected in creating and I hope continues to create. Steve Jobs and his team completely changed the world we live in today.

P.S.S. My grandfather still has the Amstrad PC – 1512. Apparently it still works. The picture of it above is what it looks like today in his basement. It should be noted, however, that he and my grandmother use an iPad and a more up-to-date Dell desktop computer. They actively keep in touch with their grandchildren, friends and relatives via Facebook, blog comments, and emails. They are both 83 years old. I’m so proud of them!

I finished my month as a guest editor over at Here’s Some Awesome today. Take a look at my last post to find out how getting objectified can help you live forever.

My September highlight was Ben & Jerry’s announcement of Schweddy Balls ice cream, which I still haven’t tried yet by the way. Why is this the best thing that happened to me this month? Well, I was a pretty diehard SNL fan back in the day – arguably when SNL had its more talented cast members – and the Schweddy Balls skit was one of my all time favs. In what I’m sure was incredibly annoying for our teachers, my friends and I would reenact sketches from SNL, including Schweddy Balls, during class. The joke also became part of my comedy routine for family and friends. I’m sure my parents really appreciated their 14 year old daughter making schweddy ball jokes at our Christmas parties. Not my fault rum balls were part of the family tradition. So, Ben & Jerry’s new flavor is like a blast from the past and a whole new opportunity to make schweddy ball jokes, while actually eating real, schweddy ball ice cream.

As for October, well, I’m looking forward to Halloween because mine sucked schweddy balls last year. Ask me why if you really want to know.

Anyway, that’s it from Finland. What was the highlight of your September? Anything exciting coming up in October? Have you tried Schweddy Balls yet? Make me laugh. I dare you.

I had the pleasure of talking with Pelpina from WebBeat.TV about the new Facebook makeover. You can check out our chat in the video above. Thanks again for inviting me on the show and a special thanks to Ross LaRocco who introduced us on Twitter!

Here are a few more of my thoughts on Facebook’s new features…at least at this point in time. I may have to write a follow up once I get to play with all the changes. This is sort of a stream of consciousness post, so bear with me.

I do think Facebook is “doing it right”. They are obviously thinking about the future of the company and how to stay relevant as new competition comes out (G+) and people’s behaviors and attitudes change. There is a ridiculous amount of users on Facebook: 800,000,000 (July 2011) and counting worldwide. That’s about 16x’s the population of Finland. I think they understand the psychology of people and target our best and worst qualities at the same time: our need for belonging, to have influence, and to express ourselves…they are professionals at getting us to spend a lot of time on their site. Having 800 million people on the same website is extremely valuable, however, to people and companies who are trying to reach their target audience. This is why marketing and advertising on Facebook is a great investment for individuals and brands – both big and small. I don’t know about you, but I usually hear about things first on Facebook. It’s a very interesting site to study and pay close attention to as a communications geek.

The Timeline – I think this will be a pretty cool feature, but I’ll probably be going in and making things private or deleting them altogether. Someone referred to Facebook’s new format as a “scrapbook on steroids”. However, I think you can all agree with me that there are some moments you don’t put into scrapbooks and many scrapbooks end up in attics and basements for good reason. People will want to have some control over just how much of their past is put out there for others to explore. Most people probably didn’t imagine that something they wrote 4 years ago in anger or a drunken stupor would be so easily searchable today. For the younger generations and for those who have just gotten on Facebook, they will have more control about the Timeline because they’re just starting out and can be a little more thoughtful about what they’re sharing. But, for the rest of us who signed on back in 2004 or so, well, we may have to spend some time cleaning up Memory Lane.

As usual, there are pros and cons about any new feature and there are always going to be people who love it and hate it. I won’t be surprised to see people leave or unfriend a lot of people when these new features roll out – a lot of drama could unfold. Nostalgia is great, but can also be overwhelming. It’s cool to remember things from the past now and then, but there’s a reason we forget, as well. Also, people are probably going to freak out about how much of their lives are so public and searchable (though this is really nothing new, it’s just going to be more obvious).

Some people are going to be worried about how awesome their Timeline is in comparison to others. One thing is for sure, productivity levels are going to plummet when this rolls out and everyone is obsessively going through their own – and other people’s – Timelines. You have to go in and manually delete or hide past posts in the Timeline. That could take awhile.

On a side note, the new layout is helping me see much more clearly what I don’t have in common with people and I am getting closer to appropriately organizing everyone. I’m very interested to see where all of these things we’re concerned about today will be 5 – 10 years down the road. I’ve been on Facebook since 2008, so 3 years of content is not hard to manage, but obviously Facebook is planning on sticking around for awhile – unlike AOL chats from back in the ’90s – so some people will have their entire lives documented on Facebook.

The Ticker – happy to see these sort of updates (likes, comments, etc) move over to the sidelines, which helps keep the most recent/news updates more relevant.

Who Unfriended You – There’s a “trick” to see who has unfriended you in the new Timeline. Watch the video with Pelpina above to learn how. I’m really not that into creating drama, so I see no need to get upset over an unfriending on Facebook. Besides, if I’m only discovering it on the Timeline and didn’t realize they were missing from my life before hand, then they probably weren’t a real friend anyway. There are so many different ways to connect with people online, so it’s really important for everyone to remember that “unfriending” is not the end of the world and your social status. We need to keep a healthy, realistic perspective on all of our social networks, media and technology and remember that our real-life relationships are the most important ones anyway.

What do you think about the new features on Facebook? Share your thoughts here!

Using Vimeo is such a nice experience. I fall into a zen-like trance while browsing through their amazing collections of (usually) high quality videos, whereas on YouTube I often feel like I’m trapped in the chaotic mind of a 14 year old. Anyway, all I wanted to say is that they’ve added a music store, so finding the right track for your video projects is super easy. Watch below to see how it works. Awesome.

I have a lot of ideas running around in my head about video projects I would like to do during my lifetime. Most of them involve traveling to places I’ve never been, trying new things and collecting stories from the people I would meet along the way. Which is why the short video project “Move, Eat, Learn” got my attention last week and I wrote about it on Here’s Some Awesome.

Who wouldn’t love to visit 11 different countries and experience what these 3 guys did? So, my question for you today is if you could do one video project in your life – all expenses paid and equipment provided – what would you do and why? And if you want, add on who you’d like to bring along with you…

Looking forward to your comments!

Here’s a little personal secret. I’m a sucker for autumn-themed decor. Show me a few gorgeous gords amidst some dried leaves and bales of hay and you’ve won me over. Put them on an old vintage truck and I’m going to take action.

Which is exactly what happened this morning as I quickly scrolled-and-deleted through my mailbox, but stopped abruptly when Pottery Barn plucked my heart strings with a few photos I immediately wanted to live in for the next few months. I could almost smell the hot apple cider in the crisp fall air just looking at these pics.

To my pleasant surprise, I realized – by actually reading the content of their email for the first time ever – that they have videos on their own YouTube channel showing you how to decorate your home for fall or throw awesome Halloween parties, etc.

The mention of videos was near the bottom of today’s email underneath the aforementioned photos which bring you to their main site/catalog. It seems like they’ve invested quite a bit in production quality, so why not throw the actual videos (or at least mention them) up at the top of their marketing emails? The videos are truly well done and deserve a little more attention.

I’m always happy to see people/brands producing great video and Pottery Barn gets a gold star from me today. You can certainly bet that I’ll be paying closer attention to their upcoming emails from now on and I immediately subscribed to their YouTube channel, so I won’t miss any more of their lovely videos (they’ve already made 270).

Hope you’re enjoying the start of the autumn season. As for me, the only fall decor I have in my house at the moment is a nice red leaf I found yesterday and put on my refrigerator with a magnet. On a side note, hot apple cider sounds really good right now, doesn’t it? Yummm. Gonna have to make that happen soon.

Happy Autumn!

Awesome video about “Hacking Art & Culture with F.A.T. Lab” from the @pbsoffbook series. This video will pretty much tell you everything you need to know. Watch the whole thing!

You can check out my guest post over at Here’s Some Awesome today about StoryCorps’ 9/11 animated shorts series. Here’s an excerpt:

StoryCorps, an independent non-profit based in Brooklyn, New York, is creating “One story for every life lost on September 11th.” Their motto is that “every voice matters” and this specific project was created in order to honor the “lost voices” of 9/11. Using interviews conducted with family members and friends of the people who were killed in the attacks, StoryCorps has created a series of animated shorts that brings those individual stories to life.

If you don’t know anything about StoryCorps, you should definitely take a few minutes to browse through their site and check out the different projects they do. In under a decade, they have already collected and archived +30,000 conversations from more than 70,000 people. Their mission is “to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives.” What an awesome mission. Inform yourselves!

Check out my first guest post on Here’s Some Awesome about the Air Guitar World Championships held right here in Finland.

Meanwhile, ever feel like this? Enjoy your weekend.

Oh, September. How I have longed for you. In the last 31 days, I’ve managed to get married and relocate to yet another country, all while working on some very exciting projects with clients across several different time zones. This has been a beautiful chapter in my life and I am truly thankful for all of the lovely people and enriching experiences defining my days.

So, my sanity has been restored and I’m finally back to a “regular” schedule. I’m really excited to share my thoughts and adventures with you again in blog form. Facebook and Twitter are nice for quick updates, but I usually have more than 140 characters on my mind.

For starters, you can find my guest posts on Here’s Some Awesome every Friday at 10 am PST for the month of September.

Post #1: Air Guitar World Championships 2011

As always, if you have any questions, topic suggestions, or interesting pieces of media you would like me to include on my blog, please send ‘em my way!

Ladies and Gentlemen! I am happy to announce that I will be getting married this Saturday to the love of my life, Mr. Andrea Vascellari! Consequently, I’ll be offline for the next week and will recommence blogging after we’ve recovered from all the festivities! Thanks for all your kind wishes!!!

And this one goes out to my soon to be husband! I really did fall in love with him the first time I looked at him and this song was stuck in my head for days! Wishing all of you lots of love and happiness!

This video is absolutely stunning.

Thanks to Bad Astronomer, also known as Phil Plait, for sharing this link on Twitter today.

“Ocean Sky” is a time-lapse video sequence of images showcasing the gorgeous night sky over Australia’s Southern Ocean Coast. It was created by Alex Cherney after “1.5 years of work, 31 hours of taking images during six nights….” Bravo, Alex. Bravo.

I’d certainly like to see that night sky in person. But for now, this beautiful piece of art will suffice.

Do you have a favorite time-lapse video? Share it here in the comments!