As I’ve previously stated, 2014 was not my best year. However, there were a few magical moments in it. In an effort to record what those were, below I throw down a few of my own favorite things that I either discovered, read, or found in 2014. These may not be new to the rest of the universe, but they were new to me this year, for the most part…
A Few of My Favorite Things in 2014:
Favorite new city – Bilbao, Spain. Best blend of the old and new I’ve ever witnessed in a city. Seriously, I can’t shut up about how cool this town is…if you ever get to go, GO!
Fave new social media platform – Props to YikYak. God bless all the college students who use it to perfect their jokes and praise when it comes to college life.
Fave book – of my own? Easy. STEM Princess. Of someone else’s? Hmm…I’d need to go with The Alliance by Reid Hoffman. Not so much for the riveting stories or grammar, but because in this book, he’s marking a new trend which I think is going to be one, if not THE key to the future of work: affiliative work. If you haven’t read this one and like to learn about trends before the rest of the universe, read it. He’s on to something.
Fave project – Carrying on the #SMDames brand. I think we’ve done a good job in establishing this brand unique to Indiana. And while I’ve loved being a co-founder and starter of this project, I will not be participating as a planner in 2015 and beyond. It has been an honor working with the amazing social media whiz herself, Ms. Amy Stark on this project, and I’m glad she’ll be carrying this brand’s torch forward in 2015 and beyond…it’s in good hands. I also had the chance to start BU Well at work – I think that’s going to be a goodie for 2015. Stay. Tuned.
Fave changing of the guard – Easy. David Muir taking over the news desk at ABC. You already know this if you follow me on Faceplace – lol! Seriously – dig their 1:30 minute face casts. Brilliant. It’s the one thing that may keep me on Facebook in 2015.
Fave training for the year – Tough call, and a tie here. It’s between Mayo Clinic’s Social Media Residency and the ACE Women’s Leadership Forum. Both were good, for different reasons.
Fave STEM area – Quantum physics – Working on STEM Princess this year got me beyond my four walls of science and forced me to learn more about ALL the areas of STEM. And while computer science and engineering are the big pushes, props to quantum physics for being both the most fascinating and enigmatic areas of STEM for me personally. That, and I still want. A. Teleporter! Get on it, girls!
Fave talk of the year – Wow. This one is tough. I really enjoyed talking about STEM at several venues this past year–at TechFest in Ft. Wayne, at an Indy Chamber panel, at Centric Indy, and Rotary in Indy as just a few examples. There were also some awesome work talks too–social media, and why pharmacy students need to be involved in advocacy. But I think my favorite talk this year wasn’t really a talk–it was a workshop. A workshop on how to write books. I loved this one the most, because I can help empower OTHER people to share their stories. It’s just me if I’m writing a book. But if I’m sharing how to write with others, the impact magnifies. Shout out to NaShara Mitchell over at Studio B for making this one happen for the Indy community.
Fave failure – let’s end on a humbling note, shall we? There are a LOT here to choose from (mountains, literally), but I’d have to say my favorite failure this year was Kickstarter campaign #2 for STEM Princess. Although, I’m not totally sure classifying this as a failure is entirely accurate…because it will not deter me from continuing the books along the STEM Princess story lines…
Let’s see what 2015 brings!
I’m a social media geek – and there are far worse labels than that. I love that we have another communication set of tools by which to share information via social media. So, here are some recents on the topic and resources to learn more – particularly for healthcare professionals.