chris culbertson [dot] com

What I thought going in:

When first learning that I would be teaching a Social Media class in Blue Springs, I was very excited. I immediately began thinking and creating scenarios in my head, which extinguished my excitement. What if I bombed? What if these people don’t learn anything? Then I thought, this is going to be a great “learning” experience. Funny how the teacher always becomes the student.

• excitement
• fear of failure
• approach as a learning experience

What I learned along the way:

I quickly learned that I do in fact know quite a bit about the subject at hand. Often times I doubt my own knowledge because I spend most of my time with people “like me” that know and use social media tools early and often. I love the relationships that come from a teaching/learning environment because it really gives me sense of purpose.

What I am going to do moving forward:

I absolutely had a blast! I can not wait to seek out more opportunities to not only teach more social media classes, but to find more learning opportunities in the things I am interested in. I felt like it took me slightly out of my comfort zone and I was able to adapt and learn new things and meet new people.

I think that one always learns more while teaching. It was certainly proved in my case.

Have you ever taught a class? If so, what did you teach and more importantly what did you learn?

I have been very busy lately and really do not have time to write this right now, but I thought it would help me as I talk through each of the things I am going through at the time. This is kind of my “to do” list, if you will. And if you won’t, well I guess I will just have to deal with it. So here is what I have been up to and will be up to for the next few weeks/months:

KCFit.net - KCFit.net is working towards some neat new walking programs that will engage kids throughout the KC Metro area. We are excited to do things like this because kids, frankly, are more gracious. I think most people will agree that doing anything for kids is rewarding and worth the effort.

Ideas and Angles - I have been asked to come and speak to a group of business owners about Facebook and the power of the social networking site. Many are interested due to some recent work we have done with I-70 Auto Service on their Facebook page.

We have been working on a website design for the Blue Springs F.I.T. (Families In Training) organization I am a part of. It is scheduled to be unveiled August 1st!

We partnered with a local Executive Search Firm to bring an online presence to a new service they are looking to provide in which they/we do your networking for you. We think it is a great idea and will help people find jobs in this tough economy. Check out NudgeYourNetwork and please send your thoughts and feedback our way. Reaching out to your contacts is the fastest way to getting a job, but it is not always the easiest thing to do on your own. If you think it is valuable, I ask that you pass the word on (through Twitter @networknudge or on your blog) and help us help more people find a job!

I am meeting with a few people tomorrow to discuss a website for their new company. It sounds like they would like to build in some social networking tools to help them get off the ground. I am really excited to meet with them, as people starting their own company are generally more passionate about their work than most!

I received a phone call yesterday from a local company that came across the Ideas and Angles website and were looking into some social media agencies to aid them in some 2010 campaigns. They have some things going and it would certainly be fun to work on a campaign as apposed to just helping someone get a presence and teach them how to manage their presence on social networking sites. We hope to put together a some very compelling ideas and proposals in order to land the project.

Wedding - I am getting married in October and even though it seems like we have most things under control, new things constantly surface.

ABoutiqueParty - Megan’s company ABoutiqueParty sells Miche Bags and we are about to launch an e-commerce site in order to sell more Miche products and hopefully expand into more Boutique items that she takes with her to her Boutique Parties. This should be unveiled within the next week or so. Keep an eye out as we will probably have some specials as it gets rolled out. Megan is such an amazing marketer, that I know she will be incredibly active both online and with her at home “parties” to get momentum early.

Olivia - She just keeps going and never stops. I love it! I just wish I didn’t feel so busy and rushed all the time right now. I feel like she and I have not had a great deal of “quality time” together for the last week or so. She continues to amaze me every day.

My brother - Scott and Julie bought a house and are doing some work on it before moving in. I spent the last weekend helping him put in a new floor for the entry way/kitchen. I really like some “manly” work every now and again.

I am sure there is more but I better be getting back to making things happen. Keep an eye out for all the great stuff coming up soon. Please leave comments about some of the projects and what you think of them. Or leave comments about projects you are working on.

Riding the Wave of Life

The past couple of weeks have been a very busy time in my life. So many things are happening and I could not help but to really take a step back and look at my life from afar. These types of moments, for me at least, do not happen too often. When they do, I really get into it and analyze who I am and where I am. I challenge myself daily and hold myself to a very high standard. Sometimes this is a good thing and sometimes it is a bad thing. I feel that times like this are important for an individual so one can see where they are compared to where they have been. This sounds very simple, but it is not. When we get going in life it is easy to see the next step, but often times you lose focus on the big picture. I always compare it to the difference of someone you see everyday and someone you see once a year. It is easy to see the changes in the person you only see once a year because you have a snapshot of where they were and over a given period of time you were unable to see their progression (or digression) and then you see another snap shot. So anyway, I feel like a lot is going on and I took the time to take a step back and look at my life from a different perspective and I really feel that this part of my life is the start of a new chapter.

I encourage everyone to do the same every once in a while. Life get’s fast and sometimes overwhelming. Don’t let it get the best of you. Even if things are going well, it is always good to take a step back and look at it from a fresh standpoint. Look at how great the economy was doing and how quickly that went south, right.

So I am looking at work and what I want to do and how I can make money doing it. I am looking at getting married in October, which is great, but a weird feeling. Between all of this and just trying to be more active and healthy has me in a whirlwind of emotion. Excitement seems to be the one seeping through most often and I am exactly that when I look at the future with the opportunities that lie in front of me and my two girls (Megan and Olivia) always behind me 100%.