No interest in Pinterest

As a Mar/Com professional, I spend a significant amount of time engaged in conversations on social media platforms.  Some I love (Twitter serves up a rich source of information in a clear, concise way), some I hate (I've quit Foursquare twice, but they keep reeling me in. I. Don't. Know. Why.), some I'm still on the fence about (Google+ ... plus plus plus. Is there an echo in here?), however most I continue to review and refine and employ best practices as I learn or uncover them.  I manage two company blogs and one personal one; one company Twitter account and one personal one; two Facebook pages and one personal one; two LinkedIn company pages and one personal one; one YouTube channel; and two Google+ pages and one personal one.  There are more, but those are the ones I contribute to multiple times per week.

As each new platform emerges, I either dabble or dive in to determine if it offers me a viable medium for telling my company's story, engaging my company's market in conversation and/or creates value for my team.

Pinterest has me shaking my head.  Seriously people, what do you see in this?  It's like all the stuff that annoys me about Facebook all lumped together.  I asked our HR Manager (her office is next to mine) and she loves it.  I asked a part-time member of our customer service team (her cubicle is outside my office door) and she loves it, too.  Apparently, they learned how to make a sock bun from Pinterest.

I'm not crafty or a scrapbooker, so maybe that's the problem.  Or maybe I don't like shopping enough.  Or, maybe my appreciation for cupcakes isn't high enough to elevate them to the balloon animal of the pastry world.

I've decided to cast a questioning net wider than than talking distance of my office.  I thought Twitter sounded ridiculous the first time I heard about it.  Andy Van Oostrum had just taken the role of AMA Programs Chair and Russ and I met up with him at Powell's coffee shop to discuss our plans for the coming year of PD workshops.  Andy checked his phone, then told us why.  I was skeptical, but followed the activity to watch for opportunities that complimented my marketing plans.  Soon after, Russ and I organized a PD workshop featuring the people from Pollinate and the convinced me to give it a whirl.  I've been a fan since.

If you "get it" and think I need to too, please enlighten me.  Otherwise, I see no viable B2B application and will move on to tackle what's next.

And I shall never know what a sock bun is.

Everything's different and nothing's changed

The exclusion of women from the recent Congressional hearings on requiring religious institutions to provide their employees with health insurance that offers some benefit for birth control reminded me of my Communications/Journalism thesis.  Everything's different since 1960 and nothing's changed.

For my senior thesis, I completed an extensive analysis of the framing of the "Pill" debate by two prominent news magazines in the years leading up to its legalization in the US in 1960 by combing through all the articles they published on the subject.  One magazine tended toward a conservative slant and the other a liberal slant.

After my research, I concluded both magazines supported approval of the Pill, but for very different reasons.  The Newsweek articles emphasized the value that reliable birth control would have on the quality of a married woman's overall health by preventing a high number of pregnancies in quick succession.  The U.S. News and World Report articles took a more Malthusianian approach and supported the idea of poor married women using the Pill to prevent overpopulation by the lower classes.  Both endorsed the idea of doctors only prescribing the drug to married women.

The voice of women was conspicuously absent in the conversation.  The doctors interviewed were men.  The government agents and members of Congress quoted were men.  The religious leaders featured were men.  Even when asking the opinion of lay people how they felt about legalization of the Pill, only one woman was mentioned.  The lone speaker for all women was a "pretty young brunette wife" (I'm picturing Mary Tyler Moore circa The Dick Van Dyke Show) waiting in her doctor's office.  Not only were men better equipped to discuss women's health, they also knew best when it came to ethics, science, metaphysics and faith.

In addition to the Newsweek and USN&WR articles, I read other periodicals.  From the New York Times to Playboy, Show to the medical journals the messengers remained male.

I remember as I read all the articles written in the late 50s thinking how much the US had changed ... how different it is for women now.

And it is different.  It really is.  And yet, in an odd, unexpected (to me) way, nothing's changed and that realization has left me gobsmacked.

Productive is as productive does

I admit it, I was wrong.

For months now, I've whined about how much my productivity level has dropped since having a baby.  Yesterday, I made a mental note that it was 5:45 a.m. and I had already fed and changed the baby, pumped (sorry for the TMI), done my crunches routine, read and responded to work emails from overnight, baked a batch of cookies, read and posted to a few blogs, looked for and forwarded job opportunities for B, read several industry articles, sketched a new strategy to help smooth out an internal communications issue at the office, showered and dressed, eaten breakfast and set out breakfast for M and B, and was headed out the door to work.

Whew.

I'm not less productive.  I'm actually more productive and completing more projects, more work, but in a less obvious way.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm still struggling to reconcile pre-mom me with post-mom me.  I loved being a "go to" person to get things done with a high level of proficiency, punctuality and creativity.  I loved the pressure of new projects, the stress of juggling professional goals, volunteer commitments and personal projects.  I miss not being able to say "yes" when asked to take on a really exciting AMA rebranding project or lead the charge in raising money to fund supporting cancer survivors.  I hate realizing my clothes don't match after I've already been at the office for three hours and constantly having frizzy hair and haggard-looking skin.

It's hard for me to not look for the hard ROI on my investment of time, energy and creativity.  I want to attach numbers/dollars/event participants to completed projects.

Of course, M is happy and healthy and I feel blessed to be his mommy.  I celebrate that.

At this point, I'm kinda wondering what I was doing with all my time two years ago.

Oh, right ... getting eight hours of sleep a night.

How do I age thee, let me count the ways

I am old.  Fact.

My evidence:
1.  My back hurts.
2.  On Friday nights, I'm excited to go to bed early and sleep in.
3.  I made a reference to the Archies Saturday morning cartoon at a meeting last week and got blank stares from everyone (however, my "you probably watched HeMan" observation earned five minutes of excited Masters of the Universe related chatter).
4.  I can eat pie for breakfast and no one lectures me.
5.  I won't wait in line for a table at a restaurant.
6.  My whole body hurts if I sleep on the floor.
7.  My resume is three pages and my references list is too.
8.  My nephew and his wife are having a baby.
9.  When a friend gets a new car, my first question is about the gas mileage (second is the warranty), not color or power.
10.  I have life insurance and a will.
11.  Don't get me started on gray hair and wrinkles.
12.  All movie plots, TV scripts, songs, etc. remind me of ones I've already seen/heard.
13.  I give unsolicited advice.

Of course the biggest tell is my new found urge to complain about being old and all the accompanying ailments.

Partake in paleo?

I'm making 2012 the year of the 30 day challenge.

Inspired by a TEDtalk, "Try something new for 30 days", I plan to either do something or not do something for 30 day blocks and see what comes of it.  Because, after all, I can do anything for 30 days.

Now here's the hard part.  What to do first? (BTW, B's input? "How about trying to not be a perfectionist for 30 days?" Pfftt.)

I'm leaning heavily towards a "no sugar" themed commitment and maybe kicking it up a notch with the Paleo Diet.  The concept is similar to the Blood Type Diet, which I did for several years in the "aughts", but the PD allows meat.  I have type A blood and, according to the BTD, I come from agrarian people and didn't evolve to eat meat, it would seem (or maybe we thought chasing a deer for three days was too much work when there were berries to be had, whatever).

The criticisms of it are similar to those of the BTD, too.  Too limiting, too hard to follow, can't really duplicate what our ancient ancestors would eat, etc.  The naysayers make some fine, reasonable points.

Here are the concerns I add to the mix:
1.  I do NOT want to lose weight.  I'm currently 10 pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight as a consequence of the scarcity of time.  If my options are eat or sleep, I'm gonna choose sleep.  My reason for doing the PD for 30 days would be as a sort of detox (excuse me while I pop another piece of caramel covered fudge in my mouth) and get me back on track with healthful eating.  I'm worried the limitations of the PD will result in me eating less and losing more weight.  When I did the BTD, I ended up looking a bit gaunt in a hollow-eyes-&-sunken-cheeks sort of way.  I'm older now and reaching the age when a little bit of fat can help soften the wrinkles.  An all-organic, no gluten, no dairy, no refined or processed foods diet means more time needed for shopping, planning and preparation.  If I don't have the time, I may end up just not eating.  Also, by removing sugar and grab-n-go prefab foods, I will significantly decrease my daily caloric intake.

2.  I'll be the only one in the household workin' the paleo plan.  This will mean planning/preparing separate meals.

3.  Cha-ching.  An all organic diet will be spendy.  In order to not lose weight, I think I'll have to increase the food volume in order to maintain the same calorie intake.  We are currently a one-income household and remaining budget conscious is crucial.

Who out there has done the Paleo Diet?  What was/is your experience?  Are my concerns unfounded?

Blame the mommies

Last night I read two pages in a book.

Not terribly interesting, I know.  However, since I haven't had time to read anything for pure entertainment since M was born, I'm pretty excited about it.  I knew being a mommy was a lot of work and a lot of time.  After all, I have a mom (of course), sisters, friends and coworkers with children.  I failed to recognize how much work and how much time.  I knew, but I didn't know.

I blame the mommies in my life (my mom, those sisters, friends and coworkers), for being so amazing and making it look easier than it is.

I'm blessed with an incredibly supportive husband, who is very engaged with M's care and yet I struggle to accomplish anything near the number of projects I did prebaby.

If I'm working, I feel guilty about not being with M.  When I'm with M, I become anxious about the work not getting done.  I miss conversations with friends, watching movies, volunteer activities, yoga.  I am working to find balance with it all.  Balance, it would seem, is elusive.

Or maybe I'm just not very good at juggling.  But I can learn.  And read fewer books.

Where are the girls?

Recently, I ranted about a new Portland company generating a lot of buzz for their innovation, but employed few female employees and zero in leadership roles.

Last week, I met with a peer who told me about a new client she was really excited about.  She described them as "innovative," "visionary" and "forward thinking" and got me excited about them.  I checked out their website.  Yes, they offer a fresh take on a needed product.  Yes, they're positioned for great growth.  Yes, they have an exciting vision for where they want to take the company.  No, they don't include women on their executive leadership team.

So this got me thinking.  What companies in Portland do have women on their executive team?  I would love to support these truly forward thinking companies with my buying power and word-of-mouth promotion.  Where are women leading, setting the vision, taking charge?  I'm not expecting majority seats; heck, I'll settle for companies with just 20 percent.

What companies do you know with women in 20 percent (or more) of leadership positions?

Yes, I'm still going on about this.