Monika's Blog

So, it is clear that there are some things I really dislike about this new new Twitter (*ahem* usernames *ahem*), but I have found a few things I actually like!

My cousin asked me the other day if there was a good way to see replies to a given tweet (I had asked Twitter a question, and she wanted to know the answer). I told her there wasn’t, except to search for @Sativabella and look at responses. Now there is an easy way! In your stream, click on a tweet, and if there is a response, you will see it pop up below the tweet:

Pretty nifty, right? I know that I will be using that feature.

The other thing that I love? Embedded tweets! They now make it REALLY easy to embed a tweet or conversation! Hallelujah! No more taking screenshots and uploading images to my blog. Look how pretty it looks:

@theblogfrog me, without a doubt. It is usually faster for my parents to tweet or email me than call me to get an answer. #addicted

— Monika Runstrom (@SativaBella) December 14, 2011

Also, you can Follow, Retweet, Reply or Favorite the tweet all from the embedded tweet.

I am sure there are more features out there that make new new Twitter better, so what are they? (trying to focus on the positive here, so please don’t tell me what you hate)

So, some of you already know this, but in case you have not heard, I have a new full time gig!

Last week was my first week being a full-time employee of BlogFrog! For the past month, I have worked with BlogFrog as a contractor, and after my contract was up, they offered me a permanent position!

What exactly is BlogFrog?

This isn’t the easiest thing to explain in a few words, so I will borrow some words from a recent writeup from The Next Web on what BlogFrog is:

There are literally millions of blogs around the Internet, many with similar interests, feel and audiences, and yet there’s not been a good way to let those audiences connect.

Enter BlogFrog. It solves this problem…

BlogFrog is focusing on being the social network for niche websites. Up to now, it has stayed primarily focused on the the spaces in which women are more typically interested. According to Banks, this is due simply to the fact that women are “more likely to reach out to people they don’t know and strike up a conversation.”

Apparently it has worked well. To date, BlogFrog services 65,000 registered blogs, across 10,000 active communities that reach 10 million users.

You can read the whole story here.

Now that you have a better idea of what BlogFrog is, what do I do exactly? Well, I am an Account Manager, so I get the best of all worlds. BlogFrog partners with brands to build communities for them, or assist them with working with bloggers for sponsored conversations. Does it sound like I am speaking gibberish? Yea, I thought so. Once again, Brad McCarty from The Next Web is better with words than me:

Brands can do a couple of things within the BlogFrog network. They can either build a niche community which they then own (Whirlpool, for instance, might build a community where stay-at-home moms discuss the ways in which they make their hectic lives easier), or a brand can choose to start a topic inside of a blog, capture all of the comments related to it, and then channel those comments to a community page. In short, they aren’t paid posts, but rather paid topics where the blogger still has the chance to speak her own mind about a subject.

Since BlogFrog has grown so much this year (from 5 employees to over 20, and it is only October!), we have had to move offices. The new pad is at 55th and Central Ave in Boulder, CO. and it is HUGE! Take a look:

Sneak Peek at BlogFrog’s new office from Holly Hamann on Vimeo.

There you have it. I’m excited to a part of the team at BlogFrog, and as usual, I’m sure I’ll see many of you at a tech event, concert, or local coffee shop. Tap me, say hi, and feel free to inquire.

Today is shaping up to be a fantastic day! Not only is it my brother’s birthday (go buy his album INCA now!!) but it is the date for Boulder Beta, and there is a local show (no surprise there) in BOULDER! (Gasp!)

What is Boulder Beta?

I am glad you asked. This is an event that was started by Tim Falls in February of this year. Boulder Beta is a mix of startups in the area showcasing their ideas/products/etc in a casual, social atmosphere where they can gain real, honest feedback. It is also a great place to network, see old friends, make new ones and, of course, have a fantastic time!

So, why should I go to Boulder Beta tonight?

The companies that are presenting tonight are top notch (as always). However, I will say that I am slightly biased as I will be a booth babe for MetroGnome (Jana’s latest venture), but I am also looking forward to seeing what SplickIt and Spot Influence will be sharing.

Plus, tonight, there is a pre-party at Trada to celebrate their 3rd birthday, with a bouncy house!!

What about this concert you mentioned?

Another great question! Tonight at the Brick House (that room that is connected to Lazy Dog) there are two fantastic Denver bands that are playing. My Body Sings Electric (who I am sure you have never heard me rave about before ) and The Photo Atlas. I am really hoping that MBSE plays their newest song Doctor (*hint, hint*) but it will be a good show either way.

So come out and join me for a night of geekery, music and fun. (Did I mention that there would be a bouncy house involved?)

I have been thinking about this for awhile now (and actively trying to achieve this new goal), but I have decided that I need to take more photos and video of my life.

I know what you are thinking. You are thinking “But, Monika, you have over 350 videos on YouTube, countless photos on Flickr and always have a camera in your massive purse!” Yes, this may be true, however, how many of those photos feature me with my friends, just hanging out and having a good time? Not very many.

The only photos of myself are the vanity Instagram pics that end up being my profile photo.

*Ahem*

Starting this last Sunday I have been trying to take more group photos. What better time to start than an 80′s party?

The majority of my videos are from concerts and are of the bands performing. While I receive a ton of praise and appreciation from the bands, I feel like I need to document more of my life!

I have never been one to be in front of the camera, but after hanging out with Aimee and looking back through all of her photos I realized how jealous I was of not only her travels, but also her photos with all of her friends!

So here it is. I am declaring my resolution goal of taking more personal photos and videos.

Plus I want to make videos like this (and use awesome songs like My Body Sings Electric’s The End of Summer):

Doesn’t this video just make you want to go to a water park? (And this is coming from a girl who is terrified of being in a swim suit in public and is afraid of drowning).

Good job on the video Aimee!!

It is no secret that I will sign up for any new service and download most new apps, but most of them are gone from my iPhone and my memory within a few days (some within hours).

Even more rare is the app that I find myself using almost immediately on a daily basis. Forkly is one of those apps.

I was lucky enough to be a beta tester for them, but when I updated my iOS to beta 5 it borked my ability to use Forkly. That is when I knew that they were on to something. I was so annoyed that I couldn’t fork my food anymore! (I love the way that sounds. Fork my food. Ha!)

I tried so hard to make the app work. Martin was even nice enough to help me troubleshoot the issue to no avail. Nothing seemed to work. I was doomed. The app was dead to me, so I did my best to ignore all of my friends posting their food and drinks from Forkly to Twitter (I was not jealous or bitter. At all). Finally with the new iOS 5 beta 5 update Forkly started to work for me again!

So what exactly is Forkly? ReadWriteWeb puts it best: “The app looks less like a neighborhood foody news wire, like Foodspotting or a Facebook for your stomach’s eyes, and more like a Yelp plus Pandora for particular dishes.” Pretty much a place for you to photograph and document your love or hatred for food and drinks and share your opinions with friends.

I have some awesome foodie friends who are always eating and drinking at amazing restaurants. They recommend food to me, but unfortunately I have a horrible memory and either forget or do not order the right thing at a restaurant. Now I have no excuse as Forkly will remember what food I have said I wanted to try and will tell me where to go to get it.

The discover tab will be great for traveling. I rarely trust Yelp reviews, but there is something trustworthy about food photos mixed with a popularity rating.

I knew the moment the app was live in the app store because my phone was blowing up with requests:

I haven’t seen an app this popular since Instagram launched last year!

Plus Forkly makes it really easy to embed your photos and wants so you can show off your tastes (and what blogger doesn’t love that):

And if you still haven’t downloaded it yet, what are you waiting for? Go to iTunes now (and add me as a friend already).

Over the past few months I have downloaded and participated in many labs for gmail plugins that are supposed to help with everything from label organization, to allowing me to ‘unsend’ an email (it really comes in handy). But by far my favorite and most used email plugin is Rapportive.

They describe themselves as company that gives rich contact profiles from inside Gmail, but what they do is provide links to social networks from people who email you. Sounds pretty complicated, but all it really does is show you the last few tweets or Facebook updates alongside of the email you are reading.

It comes in handy both personally and professionally. As I mentioned earlier, I prefer getting emails from salespeople that you can tell have been crafted just for you and are not just form emails, and I expect the same out of my emails. Rapportive makes it easier to find out those details about people.

Once you join you can update your profile to include any social networks you want. Here is my profile:

Rapportive also makes it easy to friend/follow/link in with people you already email with.

This is one of the few labs/plugin/apps/whatever you want to call it, that I have actually stuck with and continue to use daily. I highly recommend it for anyone who spends any decent amount of time in Gmail and likes to connect with people on social networks.

My inbox is constantly filling up with requests from people asking ‘for just 15 minutes of your day’ for a phone call, or a brief introduction to their services that they are trying to sell me. Most of these emails are immediately archived or trashed, never to receive a response from me. I have honestly stopped reading most of them as people spell my name wrong, email me from a gmail account instead of a company URL, or are clearly cutting and pasting from previous emails to other people (it shows up in blue people! Come on!).

Recently though, I have had a few people actually take the time to get to know me as a person and send me emails that I not only responded to, but felt a desire to respond to.

Yes, I realize he was asking me for something, but he was also sharing an event with me, which made me want to respond. I emailed him back with some suggestions of events and told him I would let him know if I heard of any others. I also enjoyed the frankness of his comment “I’d carve out some time for you, but I assume that if you had any interest in —-, we would have spoken by now.” Which was very true, I had researched his company and services in the past and determined they were not right for me at the time.

I just love that they are showing me a side of themselves that make them more human as opposed to sending me some copy and pasted text that they have emailed to hundreds of other people (we can tell).

Now just because these people took the time to get to know me more personally, it does not mean that I will be using their services. I will, however, remember them and be more likely to continue a conversation with them later (which may lead to me doing business with them in the future).

It is just nice for an email to show up in my inbox with something different from the ‘normal’ emails that start out with ‘Hello Monica’ or better yet, ‘To whom it may concern’.