Cash Mob Strikes Wichita

April 8, 2012 at 7:02 am (Leadership, NFPW)
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NFPW member Jill Miller is known for great ideas and providing businesses with what they need to thrive.

Jill Milller organized a Cash Mob in Wichita, KS.

She took that to the next level when she organized Wichita’s participation in international cash mob day. Cash Mobs are similar to Flash Mobs, but instead of dancing people go to predetermined businesses on a specific day and spend a little money to help support locally owned businesses.

Wichita joined 200 other cities around the world participating in the first International Cash Mob Day on March 24. Jill was inspired by stories she read about how small businesses were being impacted by Cash Mobs in other cities. “One night I asked my Facebook friends if they thought the Cash Mob would go over in Wichita,” she said. “The response was enthusiastic!”

At midnight she started a Facebook group and within 36 hours, more than 1,500 people were ready to go shopping at stores that were selected because they had been open less than one year, sell products for men and women, give back to the community and agreed to be mobbed.

Jill was tired of seeing local businesses “that were awesome” go out of business. After talking with a client about it, she was more encouraged to spearhead the effort. “I just had to go for it and do it,” she said.

She leveraged her social media network. “That really helped me pull it off,” Jill said.

Cash mobs were started by Buffalo, NY, blogger and engineer Chris Smith in 2011 to bring financial relief to small, struggling local businesses and to bring communities together. That is exactly what happened in Wichita March 24. “I found that people want to support local businesses but they aren’t sure what they should do,” Jill said. “And there is a lot of pent up demand to go out and buy stuff.”

That’s a good thing because Jill already is planning the next Cash Mob for April 21.

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3 Reasons to Join NFPW

January 29, 2012 at 5:15 am (NFPW)
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I sometimes use Yammer, the free private social network for companies, at work. It recently sent out an email touting reasons to use it. As I read the reasons, I realized they are the reasons to be a member of NFPW and your state affiliate. They include:

  1. Connect with colleagues
  2. Collaborate more effectively
  3. Share your knowledge

Connect with colleagues: Through NFPW you can find experts and tap into their knowledge. The key, of course, is reaching out to other members and getting to know them. During the 2011 conference we hosted a POWER Networking session where members had two minutes to share their professional stories. Members came away with information about each other and a stack of business cards for follow-up. We hope to do the same during the 2012 conference.

State affiliates also hold meetings and workshops. In Virginia we also have district meetings, which allow us to connect with a smaller group of members, providing opportunities for more in-depth conversations.

Collaborate more effectively: While Yammer was referring to online collaboration, NFPW also provides such opportunities. NFPW is active on Facebook and LinkedIn, which allow for quick and easy discussions. A recent discussion focused on whether bloggers should be considered journalists. We also share job openings and recently  members reached out to others asking for “likes” on their Facebook pages for their books or magazines. If someone is looking for information quickly, our social sharing sites are an ideal spot to get the information.

Share your knowledge: Again, Yammer was referencing sharing online through Yammer, but NFPW offers several ways to share knowledge. Members post on Facebook and LinkedIn. Members also share stories through a quarterly newsletter and the website. Not only are members sharing their expertise, they are being recognized for their contributions. During last year’s conference NFPW conference several members, including Ruth Brown of Nebraska Press Women and Jill Miller of Wichita Professional Communicators, shared their expertise during workshops.

What do you get from your membership and how can we leverage that with potential members?

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Coaching Yourself to Career Success

October 9, 2011 at 9:47 am (NFPW)
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If you want to achieve your ultimate dream, you’re most likely going to have to take something off your plate.

That is the advice of John Fulwider, a consultant, coach and connector, who spoke at the 2011 NFPW conference.

Coaching workook

To make a dream a reality, you need to make a "Not to Do List."

Using a workbook he had developed, he jogged participants through the steps to begin the fulfillment of their dreams. Participants had to write down their goals and make them SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound), and they had to address the scoffers.

“Those are the people, who say – wrongly, of course, that you can’t possibly pull it off,” John told the group.

He challenged participants to identify their dream – what they are passionate about. For many in the room, it was a time to ponder and at least begin to identify the steps necessary to make the dream a reality. Often, that means identifying what one must give up to make it happen.

I’m working on a mystery manuscript. I put it on hold while I transitioned into a new job and served as president of NFPW. Now, I’m ready to pursue this dream. I’m not taking on new commitments, and I’ve identified time to write. I’m going to stop spending hours on the weekend lost in HGTV, but will instead write.

As part of the exercise, we also identified a personal board of advisors – those individuals who can help make the dream a reality. I’ll be reaching out to these people in the coming months. These advisors will help with editing, finding an agent and publicity. Most importantly, they’ll be there to help me over the hurdles and cheer me on.

Dreams don’t just happen, but John gave the participants a list of specific, measurable and achievable objectives to start work on immediately.  Now that I have my plan, it’s time for me to finish the manuscript and turn this dream into reality.

What will you stop doing to make your dream a reality?

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Write It, Publish It!

October 5, 2011 at 6:22 am (Books, NFPW)
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Rainbow Rowell, author of the romantic comedy Attachments, one of Entertainment weekly’s top 10 “Best of Summer” reads, told an NFPW audience that she had been a journalist for so long it was hard for her to write beyond a few inches. Rowell is a lifestyle and pop culture columnist at The Omaha World-Herald.

"Attachments" by Rainbow Rowell“Writing something like a book is like wading into the ocean when you can’t see the bottom,” she said of her novel, which came in at 87,000 words.

But she waded in, cramming in writing whenever she could. She wrote on holidays and usually one day during the week (often Sundays). Rowell said she couldn’t simply write for an hour each day as many authors do.

“I can’t just dive in and out. I have to have blocks of time to write it. I have to get to a place where it can just come out of me.”

After completing the manuscript, she found an agent and two years after the book sold it was published.

Rowell says that finding an agent is the most difficult part of getting published. “Publishers don’t look at anything unless a literary agent gives it to them,” Rowell said. “They trust the literary agents to weed through the manuscripts.”

Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell shares publishing tips.

To find a literary agent, Rowell suggested looking through books that list agents. She also said that going to writers’ forums is a good way to learn about  others’ experiences with an agent.

Agents all have different rules for submissions, and Rowell said you need to follow them. “You have to give them exactly what they want,” she said. “They want to make it hard for you.” The agents receive so many submissions, this is a means to weed out the crap.

The best is when the agent asks you to send your manuscript. “Then you are in,” the author said.

A few additional tips she shared include:

  • Write only a one-page query letter.
  • Never call it a book. It’s a manuscript. “The publisher gives you a book,” Rowell said.
  • Start with your bottom choice for literary agent, saving your favorite agent for your final query. “Let other people reject you first so you can learn from them,” she said.
  • Don’t do any pitching to agents in the summertime. Rowell said, “They kick into gear after Labor Day.”

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Video 101

October 2, 2011 at 5:43 am (NFPW)
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Peter Soby of Soby Vision is a storyteller.

Only his tools are not pen and paper but rather a Canon XF300. He shoots videos.

Peter Soby

Peter Soby explains how to shoot good video. (Photo by Cynthia Price)

And because we’re such a visual society now, Soby says learning how to shoot basic video is critical for those in the communications field. “YouTube has made video that is a little rough okay,” he added.

He offered several tips for shooting good video during a NFPW seminar:

1) Make yourself a tripod – lean up against something.

2) Be loose. If you’re too tight your muscles will shake.

3) Know how all your stuff works. Be able to set up quickly. Practice. He said he practices with a giant stuffed animal in a business shirt. He comes into the room and quickly sets up his equipment and begins shooting video. Once he could do it quickly, he knew he could do it in situations where the subject only had a short time for the interview.

4) Shoot sequence shots. “You shoot this way because our eyes are looking all over,” Soby said. “This will immediately make the video look better.” He noted that most people new to video shoot a lot of medium shots. Instead, shoot wide (to capture the entire scene), medium and tight (close up on the subject or on the action).

5) Use an external microphone because it will make the sound better.

After you shoot the video, what next? He recommends becoming familiar with the video editing software that comes with your computer, such as Windows Moviemaker or iMovie. For even better quality, you may want to buy a professional editing package.

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