Girl Scout cookie season still limiting young entrepreneurs

I love seeing how organizations use social media in their daily interactions. Most of the time it's positive, informative, and engaging. Every now and then I shake my head and want a direct line to whoever is in charge so I can beg to let me help them. I feel this way with the Girl Scouts.

My older daughter was in Girl Scouts (GS) for five years. I think. Maybe six? I don't know, it's all a sugar-induced cookie blur. Back when she was first involved, marketing via social media was just taking off. I don't think GS even had a Facebook page, much less a Twitter account. Parents were still fearful of the online world, so online selling was not happening. I remember tweeting about cookie booths to hopefully drive some extra sales our way, and my daughter would send an email to family letting them know she was selling. At the booths, the most frustrating thing to me was only taking cash and checks. With so many avenues open to take people's money, why wasn't GS getting on board?

Jump to a couple of years ago. Brands by now are now extremely relevant online, and GS moved forward with the times. They even opened up online ordering via individual websites for the girls. However, you could still only order. They still did not take credit card payments, and you couldn't use other resources for payment like PayPal. Honestly, it wasn't a terrible system. Most cookie sales come from people in the town you live in. You still have to deliver the boxes of cookies, so you can be paid in person when you deliver. If you get a lot of orders from out of state, that makes it more difficult to deliver, because now you have a shipping charge, etc. It's just a hassle that GS hasn't worked out yet. This year I'm told they are taking credit card payments at cookie booths- which is a big step forward. I am one of those people who almost never has cash on her, so I would definitely be more likely to buy cookies!

There is still a side of GS cookie season that a lot of people do not realize, and that is donations. GS troops always send boxes of cookies to troops overseas, as well as to shelters and fire/police stations in their area. It's the troop care packages which brings me to the point of this post- because this week a scout did a big no-no while talking about this very thing online. The 11-year-old was part of a Twitter Chat, and was telling everyone about their project for sending cookies to troops, and also gave a link to a PayPal account for donations. It was informative, and a great business strategy. So great in fact that a mom from her own troop ratted her out to the higher-ups, which prompted a public twitter-scolding by GS (see the link for the whole scoop).

In fairness, no, she could not have a PayPal account. It's not one of their allowed methods of payment. I'm not going to dive into the personal stuff about tattling. Some GS troops are way more competitive than others. What bothers me is the thinking that the way to teach girls about business is simply to sell door-to-door and in front of stores. Yes, they have made strides, but it's a disservice to limit how people can pay. When you limit how people can pay, you limit the creativity in how the girls can sell cookies. Why bother chatting online about troop donations if the only way they can donate is to mail a check? Are you going to mail a check to some stranger? Is that Scout's parents really going to want to give their address out online? I think not.

I understand wanting to teach girls how to handle money. It's important, definitely. It's important to teach them how to build confidence in themselves too, which is why they encourage door-to-door and store front selling. But let's be honest. I have Girl Scouts in my neighborhood, no one has come by to sell to me. How many of you have taken the order form to work, or have been approached not by the child, but by the parent wanting sales? We also promote online for our children who are too young to have Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, as well as for those who do have their own social media accounts. The majority of the selling by the girls seem to come from cookie booths.

Trust me, this isn't a critique of Girl Scouts. I love GS and their Girl Power message. Although my daughter needed to leave the troop for time-organizational reasons, the years she spent as a scout are invaluable, and will serve her well for the rest of her life. My critique is in their old-business way of thinking. They have made progress with online promoting, website ordering (but not payment) and now allowing credit card payment. There is even an app to find cookies! These methods do help cookie addicts buyers find their cookies, but I feel they are still holding girls back by not fully embracing methods of payment. So much more creativity and forward-thinking can be encouraged in these girls, if the Girl Scouts would just forward their own a little faster than they have been.

Thanks for reading! If you feel so inclined, you can follow my daily ramblings on Twitter, and get all sorts of information from my Facebook Page! See you around the interwebs! 

Don't get the social media blues

I'm a big advocate of social media (have I shocked you with that sentence?). I love it so much I made it part of my business! I'm always a little put-off when someone says they are not on at least one social media site. I cried tears of joy when a good friend finally set up her Facebook account over the weekend. In a world of smart phones and tablets, it truly is a faster way to stay connected than even making a phone call nowadays.

Last week yet another study about social media and emotional health surfaced. I always enjoy reading these studies. Naturally, I read every study with my cool hipster-skeptic glasses on. You always need to know where a study comes from, how many were involved, what questions were asked, etc, etc. Studies are good to get a very basic idea of how people are thinking. This latest study says that reading Facebook updates can make you depressed and envious. You know, because according to Facebook everyone has absolutely perfect, happy lives. Why don't you?

(Never mind just a couple of weeks ago a study emerged stating that you feel less lonely when you post to Facebook.) Sorry- one study at a time, Dani!

From the article: "Witnessing friends' vacations, love lives and work successes on Facebook can cause envy and trigger feelings of misery and loneliness, according to German researchers."

"The researchers found that one in three people felt worse after visiting the site and more dissatisfied with their lives, while people who browsed without contributing were affected the most."

What is everyone envious of? Apparently how everyone is out having a good time, has an awesome family, travels, gets more "likes" and posts on their wall on birthdays, and looks so much more amazing than they do. And you? You are just sitting at home reading their updates, loser.

Seriously.

After some more contemplation, I definitely could see in myself where this has been true. I catch myself falling victim to the green monster at times when scrolling the news feed. It happens even to the most rational of people (I would like to think I am a fairly rational person, at least 70% of the time). It's a completely normal reaction, when all you see is the good.  I'll type that again- all you see is the good. No one is going to post that they have just had another fight with their significant other, snap a picture of their angry face and put it on Instagram (and if you do, please stop). You're looking at the awesome photo of the family having the best vacation ever at Disneyland. What you didn't see is that it took 10 minutes of wrangling to get that shot, and then immediately after the youngest child threw up on a sibling.

This is the key to conquering the social media blues. People are going to post mostly the good things that happen, then tell (and show) you how amazing it is. The study also states people post even MORE happy statuses, in an effort to make their lives seem more amazing than they really are! It turns into a subconscious competition of status updates. Humans are strange beings.

Keep in mind that the lives you are reading about are not 100% perfect 100% of the time. You are only getting a small percentage of a person's life via Facebook updates. Status updates are more like status brags. You are only seeing what that person wants you to see. If you still feel that envy, try and figure out why. Do you see your friends getting together all the time, and you fume about why they are not including you? Try giving them a call and make your own plans with them. Maybe your envy over someone's vacation photos is just the universe telling you it's time to plan your own getaway.

Be happy, and be smart about social media. If you are smart about social media on the personal side, it will ensure that you are smart about social media on the business side.

Thanks for reading! If you feel so inclined, you can follow my daily ramblings on Twitter, and get all sorts of information from my Facebook Page! See you around the interwebs! 

Be smart about Yelp

As I was making my social media rounds a couple of days ago, I came across an interesting post in the Phoenix New Times' Chow Bella section. They asked several valley restaurant owners what they think of Yelp Reviews. I wasn't surprised to find that most of the chefs asked were either indifferent or didn't like them. I get it. No one likes to have their work criticized, and chefs are in their own league. I think food reviews are even more difficult, because for some reason people really take their food seriously. It's not just about the food either- dining out is an experience, and the one place where everyone wants to be catered to exclusively. Admit it- you could care less if it's 7pm on a Saturday night and the restaurant is packed. That server should behave and treat you like there is one server per table. You finished your salad 5 minutes ago, so your meal should have been on the table 3 minutes ago!

Thus where the Yelp world gets sticky. Yelp is another social interaction site. You check-in to show your circle of followers where you are and what you're doing. You friend people (and they you) for the same reason. On their mobile app you can now "like" and "comment" on your friend's check-ins. You write your reviews, and people can click and find it useful, cool, or funny. I look at Yelp as more of a mini-blogging site for reviews. I also use Yelp rather than Foursquare, because Yelp let's you leave reviews and not just tips about a place.

I use Yelp all the time to find places, as well as find out about a company or restaurant before deciding to try something out. The problem is, you can't simply read the average of stars and make a snap decision. You actually need to read through the reviews. I think this one of the reasons some chefs do not take Yelp seriously. It's way too easy to leave a one-star review because you only had 4 ice cubes in your drink instead of 5. Or because you love a burger with extra cheese and dripping in grease, you give that place 5 stars. When I visited New York a couple of years ago, I checked in at the Staten Island Ferry. When I looked over the reviews, one of them was 1-star, and all it said was "I hate Staten Island." Okie dokie. There is also a fair share of "padding" that can happen. Restaurants have been in trouble for having their employees leave amazing reviews. Owners have also gone a little crazy on the site too when they see a review they don't agree with.

So take 5 minutes (or less) and read through reviews before you decide on going somewhere. Obviously if a vegetarian doesn't like a restaurant because there aren't enough choices for them, and give a place 2 stars, I (as a carnivore) might still check it out. If several reviews talk about how messy the place is and the smell of garbage in the air, well I might avoid it.

Chefs and other business-owners, don't ignore Yelp. Sure, it's a hodge-podge of people and when you combine a free site with humans who can hide behind a user name, you will get idiots here and there. But some of us actually take our reviewing seriously, and want to either promote the hell out of you, or help make you better if there is something wrong. Interact with us too- we're more likely to come back and try you again if you tell us you're improving or changing what could be a problem.

With great power comes great responsibility, and Yelp can be a pretty powerful social media tool.  Not only do you have to be smart about writing your reviews, you have to be smart about reading them too.

You never know what will happen...

Why, it's Josh Temple of House Crashers!
Why is he at our TechPhx meeting?

Today began our 2013 TechPhx season! We had a lovely kickoff brunch at Paradise Bakery in Tempe Marketplace, and had a good group of interested (and interesting!) people turn out. This year I am co-leading the (un) conference with the marvelous Perri Collins, and I couldn't be happier. Her spunk and go-get'em attitude will not only help keep ME on track, but we always have a great time together too! I was also very happy to see many old and new faces turn up. It's going to be an exciting year of planning! Follow the TechPhx Facebook and Twitter pages to keep up on all the latest happenings. There is also plenty of opportunity to get involved! Meetings will be every third Saturday of the month from here on out.

We ended up outside by the fire pit for the majority of the meeting- it was just too busy inside! There's a big sign of commitment- braving this unusual cold weather! Afterwards a few of us were still standing outside chatting, and a camera crew walked by. Then they were striking up conversation. Turns out the crew of the DIY series "House Crashers" is in Tempe looking for a lucky home to crash and redecorate. He was super nice, and we got to plug TechPhx while the cameras were rolling! Of course, who knows if any of that makes it into the final cut, but it never hurts!

It was a fun and crazy morning. Sometimes the unexpected is a good thing, and now some of us have a nice memory from the morning. You never know what the day will bring!

Some post-TechPhx thoughts

Well, it’s over. The first TechPhx happened, now a little over a week ago. I’m still recuperating! I’ve received a lot of feedback via Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and in person. Overall, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and was pleased with the weekend; from the content, to the food, to the people who attended. We do have a couple of surveys we’re sending out to get the good stuff to help us be even better next year, and links are included at the bottom of this post.

Personally, I am still looking back on the weekend and smiling. I know my opinion is biased, but I think we pulled off a pretty spectacular event. Nine hours of sessions with 4-6 speakers at a time, open panels where people can gather and talk about their specific craft, awesome raffle items, a food drive, food truck for lunch- and an added bonus of entertainment throughout the afternoon by a fencing club competition!

I find myself comparing it to PodcampAZ, even though I don’t want to. In some ways, it’s good to compare. After all, TechPhx is the evolution of PodcampAZ. We rebranded to fit what PodcampAZ couldn’t hold anymore. It didn’t make sense. So we kept the campy, “unconference” style, because that is what makes us different. What makes us unique. People seemed to like the fact that we encouraged them to check out other sessions (though I am not sure yet how the speakers felt). It is sort of like the freedom to choose *not* to choose. We did end up being pretty lucky though, because at the last moment we discovered we could stream video in each room, and record. For a thrown together test-run I think it went amazingly well. Miles was tireless the past week gathering every bit of content he could and putting it up on the schedule page. I think this also helps people feel more comfortable with the “Law Of Two Feet” concept. You can always catch what you missed later. I for one am grateful for this!

Attendee numbers weren’t high, but for a first time, I am not disappointed. Attendance is probably the only place where I feel it’s not fair to compare to past PodcampAZ events. I’ve always looked at TechPhx as the first. Clean slate. With rebranding comes re-introduction of the concept. Sure, you get your core 50 or 60 who have always been there supporting you, and they get it (for better or worse). However, this time we extended our reach, in speakers and in attendees. There were more faces I didn’t recognize than I did. The range of speakers and the content covered a broader spectrum. Over both days we had around 170 who checked-in. I consider that a win.



Of course none of this is possible without a group of committed people (or people who should be committed) to put it all together. For me it was strange at first. I had always been the one “taking orders”- and now I had to delegate. It didn’t start out well, because I didn’t have much of a plan myself. We also lost a few people, but things work out and we gained too. I think by the end all of us got into a good groove putting it together, and I need to acknowledge the organizing committee for making the entire weekend possible.

Everything from the website, securing the venue, Tech Support before and during the weekend, registration, the after party, volunteer organizing, the food drive, media kit, and of course kicking my butt to make sure I got my tasks completed could not be possible without them (I know I’m missing many things but you get the idea). Miles, Perri, Kevin, Debbie, Crystal, and Sean, you know how grateful I am. Also thanks to those who took the time to volunteer and be extra bodies where we needed them during the weekend!
Can’t forget our podcast voices either- sending much thanks to CJ and Scott for lending their voices to the live stream!

I see nothing but good things moving forward with the next TechPhx. I’m so excited to watch this event continue its evolution- and you can help us figure out the direction! Please respond to the surveys below (one for speakers, one for attendees), and give us your feedback about what you thought of TechPhx. We have all ready made quite a list of our own personal feedback, but it’s more important to hear back from the ones who have the most to gain from this!

*Attendee Survey
*Speaker Survey

January we start up again in planning the next TechPhx- so stay in touch with us via Facebook, Twitter, and the website!

So what's going on with this TechPhx thing?

It may seem like all we are doing behind the scenes of this year's PodcampAZ TechPhx is sharing interesting things via Facebook and Twitter. I can assure you we've been pretty busy! I wanted to take a moment to give you an update, and what to expect in the very near future!

First off, see the pretty logo up there? The organizing committee decided that the chat bubbles had to go. The absolutely fabulous Perri Collins put this together for us! We couldn't completely part with our Podcamp roots- we love that darn rss sunburst-fiery thingamajig!

We have been working hard to get techphx.com all nice and purdy so we can finally get registration rolling! Which is extra-exciting, because along with that we will be opening up Speaker Nominations too! So start thinking about the types of things you want to learn or hear about at TechPhx this year, and who you would want to hear talk about said topics. You will even be able to nominate yourself- just go crazy!

Just in case you didn't know, this year's TechPhx will be on November 10th and 11th, and will be held at the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe. So block out the weekend right now- I'll wait.




Yay! All calendared in!

Ok, that is the big update. We're here, and we're ready to rock this thing. Keep your eye on the internet- because registration is coming soon! You will be the first to know when that happens!

The Tech Phx Planning Season Is On!

I am so excited to announce that a new season of conferencing has arrived! When last we spoke, the conference known as PodcampAZ was laid to rest, and a new name emerged... TechPhx! Which, well, is the only thing to change. It's still going to cover all the awesome topics, and have all the awesome panels it did before, but the name will now be more... fitting (and awesome*).

Well, there was one small change. Tyler has stepped back from leading the charge this year. Apparently he's getting married or something, and wants to focus on that right now. Our Tyler, growing up so fast! So, after what was probably too much deliberation (on my part), I'm going to be taking his place as leader this year! I am super-excited, because I don't look at it as if I'm in charge. I am still looking at this conference as a group effort, and we want to get as much community involvement as possible. We just need someone to call meetings to order, right? RIGHT?

Although the types of sessions themselves are not changing, and we're keeping with our unconference theme, we do have some new ideas we'd like to incorporate into this years' conference. I don't want to reveal it all now- but what it involves is a way to spotlight all the great things the valley has to offer. And there are a ton of great groups, gatherings, and conferences in the valley.

However, we need your help to do it. Mark those calendars for Saturday, February 11th. 10:00 am, Room 203, at the University of Advancing Technology (where last year's conference was held).  We are especially making an appeal to those who run other conferences, camps, and clubs during the year in the valley. You know, Ignite, Social Media Club, WordCamp, EPublish Unum...  etc. All we need are one or two representatives to come out and hear what our big idea is. We think you'll like it. Of course beyond that, anyone and everyone is invited to get involved with this year's TechPhx. Something you loved last year? Help us make it better. Something you didn't love so much? Help us make it better.

RSVP Here!

I've said it before- I was blown away with what a group of 8 or 9 of us did last year with Podcamp. With 20 people, or 30... well I can't even imagine the degree of awesome and amazing TechPhx can reach.

Actually I can. So see you on February 11th!



*I've been watching a LOT of "How I Met Your Mother" lately.