Graduating From Point-and-Shoot School
August 5, 2008
Y'all know I love to run around with a camera or two in hand. And I hate to admit it, but most of the time the fancy settings and fun buttons go unused while I point and shoot in the auto settings alone. Well, I just signed up for a series of five photography and camera classes that I hope will change that.
On Aug. 27, I'll be starting my new classes with "Introduction to the Digital Age." This class will cover basic camera operation, file formats and exporting images for editing and sharing. I'm sure it will be a great refresher on what I've picked up on my own, and I'll be sure to share some of the highlights with you here.
My class lineup also includes a Rebel XT-specific class, a couple of imaging classes that will cover topics such as composition and aperature, and class all about lighting.
I have the camera, and after these classes I will just need the lights and the action!
Back From Vegas
July 15, 2008
No email. No Twitter. No blogging while I was gone. But I did do some gambling and got a new iPhone.
Out of the Office
July 11, 2008
I'll be out of the office Monday, July 14, dropping nickels in the slot machines and celebrating the upcoming nuptials of a good friend.
While I'm out, please feel free to contact Laura or Megan by emailing nfib@hammock.com.
I'll be back checking email and counting my winnings Tuesday, July 15.
Social Networking Tool Brings "Followers" Together
July 7, 2008
In the span of just three days, a few folks tweeting in Austin, Texas, decided they should do something to help the community, and the idea for the first-ever Austin Blood Drive Tweetup was born. I signed up to donate with the first "tweet" that I read.
The blood drive was Thursday, July 3, and from what we hear from the Central Texas Blood and Tissue Center, they saw more first-time donors that day than they had in ages and the total number of donors was more than double that of a normal Thursday. Just in time for the July 4 holiday weekend.
Read more about the event, including the initial planning, from the one of the tweeting event planners, Michelle Greer.
And if you're just starting to tweet and want to follow someone who donates blood, takes pictures of her pets and loves Nashville and Austin equally, you can find me @summerh.
Pictures + Words = Full Story
June 30, 2008
I'm not one of those folks who spend their days longing to quit their jobs to become professional photographers. But I do love to run around with a camera. And I love to eat. And I enjoy words. And just last week, I started playing with a way to combine all three.
So often we see pictures -- whether online or in print -- with words beside them or under them to describe exactly what's going on in the photo. But what if we put the words on the photo, right there in the heart of the photo so that your eye sees the image and reads the words all at once?
We do quite a bit of this for hammock.com, and I'm going to continue to play and learn with my own personal photos, too.
Using picnik.com on images that I took of food I actually cooked, here are my first two attempts. Bananas Foster French Toast and a spinach salad with grilled chicken, apples and feta:
Bugsy at Work
June 20, 2008
Bugsy works on keeping my chair warm while T.J. does some blogging and Thunder chases cats away. It's Take Your Dog to Work Day!
Back From DC
June 12, 2008
We're back from Washington, D.C., where a team of folks from Hammock spent several days covering the NFIB 2008 National Small Business Summit, using our "association community builder" approach to share the event. Video, text and photos can all be viewed at the NFIB Summit website.
Eating My Way Through Washington, D.C.
June 5, 2008
- Ben's Chili Bowl and Old Ebbitt Grill. Politicians and lobbyists are regularly seen at both places.
- There are tons of excellent restaurants in the Chinatown/Penn Quarter area, which is very near the Summit location. A local favorite is Matchbox. There is almost always a huge line and at least an hour wait no matter what night of the week you go.
- Also in that area are Cafe Atlantico, Jaleo, Rosa Mexicano and District Chophouse. All are yummy and unique to D.C.
- Friends who work on the Hill say Hawk & Dove and Tabard Inn are also big political hangouts if you're hoping to rub elbows.
Back From the Beach
June 2, 2008
And I didn't check e-mail. Not even once.
A Quick Wiki Lesson
May 12, 2008
I participated in my first wiki during the Super Bowl three years ago. It was basically the score chart page that goes around many offices during the Super Bowl or the Final Four. Everyone purchases a square or two, and if one of your squares lines up with the final score, you win!!! (This particular Super Bowl wiki was all for charity, with the cash going to the winner's favorite charity.) With fewer than 50 people participating, this wiki was small and easy to use.
Compare that to Wikipedia, the behemoth online encyclopedia, which has more than 2.3 million articles in English alone. In that instance, wikis can be rather intimidating. But they don't have to be.
Shifting Careers, the New York Times small business blog, has linked to a fun and informative little video that explains a wiki in a very easy-to-understand format.
Wikis can fill many needs from social networking to education to business collaboration -- one of our favorites around here is smallbusiness.com -- but they don't have to be scary. They can be fun -- and even generous -- if you play your cards right.
