Ha ha, bit of crowd-sourcing continuing (without success yet, but it's got to happen sometime right!), using Paul Windo's idea of #freedrbexl, started by @emptybelly, with @Ulfilas coming up with the most appropriate slogan!
Still awaiting the un-suspension of my @drbexl account. Still can't work out why it could possibly have been suspended, aside from the fact that I tweeted roughly every minute for certain sections of the conference! Got the conference guys starting a campaign - well, you never know!!
Proof positive I was there tonight (and I know, I have a bit of a backlog of other blog material on this blog). My other blog has gone crazy today after that New York Times article yesterday, and yes, I am behind on my tasks for today (and yes it's nearly tomorrow)! See more about the Winchester Web Scene, formed in November 2008, growing monthly I do believe - not a networking business-card exchange kind of evening, but a chat with people who have shared interests - some coders, some developers, some content writers, some social media types...
LEAF: 'Linking The Environment And Farming'
LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) was set up in 1991. At that time, the gap between consumers and farmers was getting wider and the need to meet and understand both sides of the debate was essential. For the first time a group of farmers, environmentalists, food and agricultural organisations, consumers, government and academics got together to do something positive for the farming industry.
Open Farm Sunday (Next Date: 13th June 2010)
Open Farm Sunday is a fantastic opportunity for everyone, young and old to enjoy the living, vibrant countryside. Take time to listen to the birds, soak up the scenery, experience the smells of the farmyard and really get in touch with the land that feeds us. Discover at first hand what it means to be a farmer and taste the produce. So come and feed your senses on Open Farm Sunday.
Wired Wessex sponsored an event by Tony Treacy on Blogging for Business on Thursday 28th May. Social Media is exploding and Tony's right there, giving us advice via econsultants.it.
#assk64
As Aung San Suu Kyi approaches her 64th birthday (June 19th 2009), and around 13 years of imprisonment, this site was created to collect hundreds of messages of support before that birthday. Created in only 6 days by Rechord, and launched only a couple of hours ago, the site already has a buzz going on Twitter, largely thanks to @SarahBrown10 (Gordon Brown's wife, he's also posted an entry, but it keeps disappearing thanks to the volume of Tweets!) and @JimmyCarr, and now @eddieizzard! You can read more about ASSK, and her fight against illegal imprisonment.
Although I've been playing around with a number of social networking sites, trying to identify their potential, I've not look for any specific academic networking sites, and wondered if there were any.As we rolled into 2009, I'd already been preparing to start my "Thankfulness Diary", which is a cross between a prayer diary (inspired by Bill Hybels "Too Busy not to Pray") and a focus on that for which I'm thankful on a daily basis. I often like to get things "right" and both my thankfulness diary and this blogs are areas in which I want to play and see where the path takes me (in a similar way to how I prefer to travel!), as for paid work it's a lot more focused, but without that space for creativity, no new thinking will emerge.
Thankfulness Diary
I bought an A4 page-to-a-day diary (and would you believe how long it took to find one which had full pages for Saturday/Sunday as well as weekdays, finally, a £1 shop!), and either in the morning or the evening I combine my chapter of Bible reading with some notes from The Word for Today and then I let myself at it. Text is still my primary medium, but I let myself at the scribbled drawings too, and who knows what else might come to mind as I relax into it more!
Whether to go morning or evening depends on my mood, and each has different benefits. In the morning set off for the day with a particular spring in the step, in the evening can really think back over what has happened on that particular day.
I have noticed a difference as with "the current economic climate", the fact I'm living out of a suitcase in a friend's spare room whilst job-hunting I could just focus on the the mountains to climb, but instead am concentrating on a step at a time (and looking back at the steps already taken) as I'm incredibly grateful that I do have a roof over my head, I'm picking up some bit-work which all adds to the portfolio, and there's space for some creative thinking, further learning whilst I move through the process.
It's not an "instant fix", and it certainly doesn't mean walking around on (or in!) a cloud of hot air all day. A bad news story, e.g. "more jobs lost" can still knock you sideways, but looking back at all the things there are to be thankful, and looking at it within the bigger picture wins the battle.. eventually!
Positivity
I wondered if anyone had set up a positivity blog to counteract the current negative thinking, particularly focusing on positive news stories. Not found one like that, but the first entry on Google does have a lot of tips for creating a positive mindset for yourself, and in fact offers a specific "Positivity Challenge" which chimes with the above.
Linking Note
To note, if you wish to create a link to a long URL (I'm especially thinking if you want to create a posting in Twitter) use Tiny URL to create a short URL which doesn't break-up in emails, or use up all that space.
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