Connie Bensen

I’ve been a bit quiet on my blog, but it certainly hasn’t been due to being unplugged. It seems like someone flipped a switch after the holidays and everyone wants a listening tool NOW if not yesterday! My joke is that Santa Claus didn’t come thru so they have to call us.

In December I decided that ‘focus’ was the word for 2009. So I have been focused on my work with my startups. And yes, that’s plural. But I love the energy and growth rate! It’s truly energizing. My husband asked what I wanted for Christmas & I said ‘5 more hours in my day’. Then he said, what would you do with it? He knew as well as I did that i would just work more. But I find it gratifying & enjoy my interactions with everyone.

The idea of having a focus has been a good idea. I pared back some of my commitments & chose those that I truly believe in. I have a speaking itinerary that is exciting & I’ve started to decline events in that area too.

Last week I had some incredible news that I am so excited about! More information is coming. And I was invited to speak in Boston at Enterprise 2.0. I’ve heard it’s a great event & I look forward to meeting my friends there in June!

My husband & I went out to dinner recently & talked about the cities we’re going to visit. We will be stopping off in Barcelona for a vacation in May on our way to Next 09, a business conference in Germany that I’m speaking at. One of the startups that I’ve been advising has extended their hospitality & I’m excited to visit them & make use of my Spanish degree. Sometimes mi espanol shows up on Twitter).

And I’ll be traveling to the Techrigy home office in Rochester, NY. They better order some lake effect for my visit! I really can do without the snowstorm! Toronto isn’t far away & I look forward to getting up there on one of my trips. I’ll always be fluent in Canadian having grown up 10 miles from the Canadian border!

Tomorrow I’m unplugging for the day & traveling to Fargo, ND. We’re going to have the first tweet up. In looking on Twitter, a group had a tweet up today so there are already people meeting & connected by social media. There’s a storm predicted, but hopefully we’ll get there. Photos coming…

What are your  goals for 2009? Are you reinventing yourself thanks to the recession or growing in you present job? Travel was my dream, so I’m excited to be able to mix speaking, teaching & meeting new people & experiencing new cultures/foods.

On Saturday morning I had a long chat with Warren Sukernek (@Warrenss). I congratulated him on his new job and I realized how my life has changed to be much more globally oriented rather than isolated (and I still live in the same place!)

The recessions in the past never really affected me much here in the rural Midwest. Yes I remember the farming recession. I grew up on a dairy farm but my parents had worked with my grandparents & weren’t deep in debt like so many of our neighbors. We weathered through it. And I’m sure there were other times, but our communities had strong industries (Polaris snowmobiles & Marvin Windows).

During my 9 years of working at the library the times that I noticed financial challenges were when we were asked to contact our legislators for support. One December we closed for 2 weeks as a budget saving measure. (That worked for us though).

But now is different. My friends are spread around the globe. And many have lost jobs. Each note causes me pain. The metro areas are getting hit harder, but that’s where the population densities are at. My home town lost 100 jobs, so it’s happening everywhere.

One thing that was interesting was that the Salvation army locally raised $30,000 more than last year. $230 k total.I think that’s a great indicator of hope.

Today some jobs came to my attention. I am parsing them out to people who I know are looking & would be good candidates. It’s a small thing. Please help your online neighbors to find work.

My suggestion if you’re job hunting is to focus on that, but use the additional time to volunteer. Get involved in a community of your choice. Find a company to assist. Help others. Pay it forward & your network will grow.

This period will pass as they always do.

Many read my blog for the information that I share. And I love having this format to teach others about methods that I have found useful. It’s my nature to provide information & leadership.

For the second half of last year people were telling me that’s what they see me doing. Chris Brogan told me that in person at Blog World. Scott Hammond of Nattergalen has identified it too & requires his staff to read my blog.

Chris has taken education to a new level of creating a business around it. I’m excited for him on his venture! This year brings me many opportunities to speak & teach in person also (some are yet to be announced). I will be doing some workshops on community management & leadership.

I have learned so much online through webinars & online experiences. So it was a natural fit when Axel Schultz contacted me & asked if I’d join the faculty of his newly founded Social Media Academy. As you know I’m a proponent of working remote & I appreciate the ‘virtual’ format! The press releases are out & I’m excited about having another way to share my knowledge with others.

Thanks to Axel & Marita for inviting me to join in their adventure.

There is a free Webinar on Jan 21

Last week I did my first webinar. The topic is Business Cases for Social Media Monitoring. The recession is a challenge for everyone whether you’re a business or seeking a job. My presentation is focused on the business aspect but it will also give you ideas on how to use our Freemium version of Techrigy SM2

We recorded it so that everyone can view it in case you missed the live event.

• Download of my slide deck & webinar

Feel free to ask questions here & I’ll be glad to answer them.

What topics would you like to have future webinars on?