Michael Patrei and Ballou

When I gave a talk about Bootstrapping in the Mohawk Valley to the MV Young Professionals group last month, one of the points I tried to drive home was that you need to surround yourself with people that make things…and that you should make something too. Whether those things are businesses, films, music, art, pieces…

My Toolbox (so far)

I’ve been giving some talks recently to businesses and groups on promoting yourself online and some basic social media primers for business. I try not to get all caught up in the tools or the 3rd party add-ons because sometimes those are the things that can get confusing to people and you miss the point…

Own Your Story

I was leaving the restroom of a local watering hole about a week ago when I was stopped by a woman asking where she knew me from. I didn’t know her (at least I didn’t think I did). After a couple of seconds it came to her. I was a singer songwriter that she saw…

GoDaddys’ Elephant Problem

GoDaddy’s had a hell of a day after a video(not for weak stomachs) of CEO Bob Parsons killing an elephant on vacation has gone viral. I wanted to do a quick video to recap the story and also show how users around the world as well as people with massive online influence such as Peter…

Picasso Gets Social

This past weekend I hopped down to New York City to spend some time with some amazing friends, but also to check out one of my favorite bands ever, Over The Rhine. The show as awesome, to say the least but I thought I’d just share a couple of observations that I had while schlepping…

#UticaRocks

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Mohawk Valley Young Professionals event. Rick Short and I were honored to be asked to present and meet so many cool folks from the MoVa. Hopefully we were able to inspire and give you some ideas about how to thrive here. But the real takeaway from the…

SXSW 2011 Day 1 –

When people say that SXSW runs on beer, energy drinks and breakfast burritos, they weren’t kidding. I’ve been having an absolute awesome time the past couple of days, with great panels and meeting amazing people. One of the highlights of the trip so far was getting to hang with Erika Napoletano, Gary Vaynerchuk, Tom Martin,…