I grew up in a small New England town, surrounded by what by today's standards would be considered 'nosey' neighbors. To this day I remember their names, the Kerrys and Kellys and Jeffreys and their parents who had no problems doling out discipline, dinner, and hugs in equal measure. I've lived in many places since then. I can't tell you what my neighbors' names were; I'm not sure I knew it even then. When I was in vet school, a five year old boy down the street drowned in his pool. When a ... Read more »
BlogPaws
Death Match: Social Media vs. Rotary
Two weeks ago, I had the honor of speaking at the AAHA National Convention as a part of the BlogPaws veterinary social media track. In a fit of what I can only imagine was perhaps a hypothermia-induced lapse in judgment, Bill Schroeder invited me to co-present for the day. For those of you who don't know, Bill helms In Touch Vet, a veterinary marketing company that works with 8,000 vet clinics across the country with website design and social media. And I, well, I manage one site, which ... Read more »
Shelter Drive By: Snorgles and Food
So before I left for Nicaragua, I wanted to make sure I got my shelter drive-by done and set in honor of our Shelter Appreciation Week Blog Hop. If you missed the post talking about why we are doing it, click here- please consider featuring your own local shelter this week so Blog Paws can make a $2000 donation! Get your posts done this week and then join the Blog Hop! The whole point of the shelter drive by is to keep it simple. Simple is doable and unobtrusive and repeatable. I brought a ... Read more »
Be the Change with a Shelter Drive By! Small effort, big reward
As many of you have heard, it's National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week, though to be fair the news cycle has been dominated by other events. Such is life. As regular readers may remember, I usually end this week with the Blogathon, a 24 hour marathon of posts with prizes and fun, and potentially zombies. But life happens and things evolve, and as it so happens I will be on a plane on Saturday, on my way back to Granada, Nicaragua. I am doing a one week course in Technical Animal Rescue ... Read more »
Up in the Air
I always find the end of conferences such a melancholic time. Half the people have left, things are getting broken down, and it's just you and the hum of hotel air conditioning. That is why I ty to leave before the bitter end, so I don't get too despondent. That is what I had planned for BlogPaws. Wraps up Saturday night, and I was going to book it out Sunday morning before I had time to be sad it was over. Well, Irene had other plans, such as winging through DC the very moment I was ... Read more »
Tagg Takes DC
Yes. Well. I suppose you are looking at the new and spiffy site and thinking, boy, those were some subtle changes. Well, as tends to happen with these things, there was a little glitch in the proceedings so now we are looking at a weekend changeover. No one said progress was easy, right? This is what we call "building suspense." That's OK. I have a great post for Monday anyway. So in the meantime, join me on part II of the BlogPaws recap, why don't you? There are always many fun adventures ... Read more »
Fright Night (not the hurricane. The public speaking.)
I gotta tell you, I was admittedly nervous heading out to DC this weekend for BlogPaws. All last week the talk of the country was this mega storm that was barreling towards the East Coast, not for Florida but for the eastern seaboard exactly where we were supposed to be going. Some family members delicately suggested that I might reconsider going. And I said, no way, because it's BlogPaws and it's my favorite conference of the entire year and I can't not go. So I went, as did the majority of ... Read more »
Banner Day
It's National Dog Day. I am in DC bunkered in for the storm of the century with the greatest people in the world at BlogPaws. There is no one else I would rather weather Pawmageddon with. And it's my birthday. Like I said, banner day! I would love if you post something delightful in the comments today. Cupcakes, ice cream, puppies, otters, you name it. ... Read more »
Let’s Get Together
Staying connected is a lot of work. Every time I turn around there is some new social media thing I'm supposed to be signed up for, some new thing I need to remember to update. I can barely keep up with what I have. I've found anything that allows me to maintain lists online is preferable to one that requires me to remember where I placed a book, or a stack of business cards. Which is why, with the blessing of the BlogPaws team, I've started a Google Docs Spreadsheet for BlogPaws attendees to ... Read more »
The Introvert’s Guide To Having an Awesome Time at BlogPaws
It's just around the corner- the biggest, best, and most entertaining pet conference of the year- BlogPaws 2011! If you're a three-peater like me, you probably know the drill by now, you've met some people already and are looking forward to reconnecting with your buddies. But if this is your first time, perhaps you find yourself a little bit intimidated. I know I was- well, I'll be honest, I still get intimidated by these things. Do you all read The Bloggess? She is hysterical and she ... Read more »
BlogPaws Recap Part 3: Vets and Pet(ties)
One last post to finish recapping BlogPaws for those who were unable to attend. I hope I have impressed upon you the awesomeness of this extravaganza and convinced you that yes, you should so totally 100% go to the next one, which will be in San Diego if I have my way. Note: I have NO idea where it's going to be, that is just wishful thinking so please don't let that become a rumor, ok? If we're starting rumors I say let's go big and say Monaco 2011. Anyway, on the second full day of the ... Read more »
I am the change: BlogPaws West Part 2
I just posted two really kind of depressing posts, didn't I? Well, how about we lighten it up a little with a continuing recap of the BlogPaws event. The mood brightened considerably after the morning keynote. After that experience, I slunk into the next session with notebook at the ready. First was "Building your Brand and Platform Through Blogging" with Michele Miller of WonderBranding and pet lifestyle expert Charlotte Reed. They were great. I took notes about funneling and branding to ... Read more »
Rules of Engagement: Sit in the back
I'm back from my second BlogPaws conference, exhausted but happy at the prospect of yet another fantastic success. I think everyone had a wonderful time (Kate's attempt to sneak a bottle of wine into the Saturday event and subsequently getting busted by a beverage services manager who takes his job EXTREMELY seriously notwithstanding.) To do the conference justice in one post would be impossible. To do it in three or four would still be paltry. However, if for no reason other than I promised ... Read more »
Making the connection
BlogPaws West is only a week away! I can't believe it's coming up so quickly. I've debated attending conferences like BlogHer or BlogWorld in the past, but they always seemed so far removed from what I do and what I want to accomplish. I don't really pay attention to SEO and Google rank and all that stuff. I just like to write and blab about animals, forget all that technical mumbo jumbo. But BlogPaws- a conference made up of pet bloggers? That's right up my alley. I attended the inaugural ... Read more »
Eyeing you all suspiciously
When I was speaking at BlogPaws I looked out into the group and saw some people looking back, others taking notes, and a third group tapping away at keyboards. In the olden days (you must read this in a geezer voice) that would be a major insult, but I assumed after watching people all morning that the typists were giving real-time updates on Twitter which is actually highly complimentary. Of course, you never know if they are speaking well or poorly of you until you get a chance to check ... Read more »
Be The Change Challenge
A few months ago, Caroline (aka Romeo the Cat's staff, aka co-founder of BlogPaws) asked me if I would consider being a speaker at BlogPaws on the "Be The Change You Want to See" panel. I immediately said, "Heck yes!" followed up with, "But, uh, why? I'm not entirely sure I qualify." Caroline assured me that yes, they did want me to be a part of the talk specifically because I had zero experience and no clue what I was doing when I started out with the blogathon and Hounds for Haiti. Of ... Read more »
BlogPaws- if you missed it, I’m sorry because it was totally awesome.
You ever come back from a whirlwind event and just kind of sit there slack-jawed, thinking to yourself, "Wow, I can't believe I just got to be a part of that"? That was BlogPaws. I've sat in many conferences in my days, listening to various keynote speaker types tell their story, and every single one of them has some singular path-altering event where the skies parted, the sun shone down, and they knew that their life was about to get really interesting. I know, in that ineffable way one ... Read more »
