Vicki Johnson and Associates

I don't get "inspired" often, guess I have heard lots of great speakers, but Alison Levine - General Session at Connect MarketPlace was tremendous. Some of the "take-aways":

· Keep asking questions till you get to yes.....

· Don't let fear stop you from letting you do the things you want to do, step up and try, even if you don't think you are ready.

· Who, outside of your team, you may need to call on to assist and have them in place in advance...

· Tragedy will either blow things up or bring you together.  Take prudent risks and learn from those who came before you and their successes and failures.

· You have a responsibility to the people around you, so do what you have to do, someone else has it worse than you.

· If you are experiencing change and have no control over it - keep your bearings, take action based on the situation at the time, not on the plan because the plan is outdated already

· Judgment - turning around and walking away from the deal, how will this affect not just you but everyone else around you

· Even when things feel calm, there is still risk....

· Ask the question......you will never know otherwise and progress only happens when you ask questions

· The journey and what you are going to do along the way. Those that stand at the top are no better than those that got half way up but tried....

· Nobody gets to the top by themselves......

Connect MarketPlace was a huge "win" for me, even if I did have to race out of town to beat Hurricane Irene home. Jeff Hurt's class on social media leaves me wanting more information on the variety of options available. Right now, I have on my list to do more research and learn about the following:

Google+ - connecting to people

HootSuite - social media dashboar

Alltop – Filter the news received on the web

blogtalkradio – host you own live radio talk show

Are you using any of these? Please let me know your thoughts. I would love to get your input as to how effective any of them have been for you and your organization.