ShanaRay.com

In 2006, a book called Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers revolutionized the online community and helped blogging become a way of life. The co-authors, Shel Israel and Robert Scoble have become leading social media icons and leaders, both online and offline.

On Friday, September 10^th the two will reunite to speak for the first time in over two years in an event we are calling Wisdom of We 2010 or #WOW10 if you are on Twitter. This is the first event ever in Santa Rosa with this caliber of speakers and presenters in social media.

The two authors will be a part of a round table discussion panel (other speakers are in the process of being finalized), answering questions about where the future of collaboration, online communities and social networking is headed, discussing real world examples of people coming together, best practices, and answering questions from the audience (both in person and via Twitter).

Wisdom of We 2010 is taking place at the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country in Santa Rosa, Ca. just a short drive from San Francisco, in the middle of Wine Country. We are expecting a sold out event and tickets are in high demand, so register now at http://wow10.eventbrite.com/

Of course, it isn’t a social media event without a tweetup. And it isn’t Sonoma County without some wine, so after the panel discussion, there will be a wine tasting reception on the patio at the Hilton, overlooking the city of Santa Rosa. There will be a few social media games and surprises that I will blog about soon.

We have kept the event extremely affordable for everyone and tickets are on sale now for a mere $25.00 for both the seminar and the tweetup, which includes; wine, pre-seminar and local cheeses, charcuterie and wine tasting during the tweetup.  If you want to stay later, the Nectar Lounge at the Hilton has some amazing cocktails and is a great place to grab breakfast the next morning. They also are giving away a great deal on hotel rooms for attendees, just call 1-800-HILTONS (booking website coming soon) and let them know you will be attending the event.

We are looking for amazing businesses who would want to help sponsor this event, so please email me at sray@democrasoft.com if you would like more information on our sponsorship packages!

Look forward to seeing you there!

It is Spring and I have been inspired to live a more healthy lifestyle (I usually try, though with amazing clients such as Sift: A Cupcakery, Franco’s Ristorante, Sizzling Tandoor, Sonoma County Restaurant Week and all of the wineries and wine events I have been working lately, it is a bit hard to not constantly be eating).

I am on week 1 of drinking a Vibranz Kombucha each day.  This is the new Kombucha company based in Healdsburg that just happens to be one of my clients.   They also just happen to make a kombucha that TASTES GOOD (most taste like vinegar, but it was something that would make me feel better after a night of drinking)!  Kombucha lovers claim an assortment of health benefits with this drink; everything from the claim that it detoxifies the body, improving digestion to lowering cholesterol, increased energy, creating sharper eyesight, better skin condition, and fighting cancer (of course, everything either causes or fights cancer).  So I decided that I wanted to test this out by drinking one each day and documenting how I feel.  I haven’t blogged about this yet but I have been writing my thoughts down (in an actual notebook).

I am on day 1 of riding my beach cruiser for my new exercise routine which will include getting away from my laptop and bike riding, hiking, joining a gym and taking Zumba classes with friends.  After my ride around the neighborhood I felt great, but it is the motivation beforehand that I seem to lack. I am constantly going to meetings with clients and networking that I have somehow convinced myself that the time it takes to work out isn’t worth it.  I am forcing myself to think differently on this.

I am also on month 1 of my new idea to treat myself to an afternoon of relaxation.  As you may know, I work constantly.  I am definitely not complaining because I love what I do.. I mean, who else can say they get to eat, drink and tweet for a living… Not many!   The problem is that I don’t take time to work on myself.  I have decided I need to make an effort to fix this.  Today I was treated to a facial at the office’s of Cynthia Bailey (aka @Cbaileymd).  Only the Best Skin Care is her dermatology office in Sebastopol, Ca.  My esthetician Sara treated me to a paraffin hand wrap and a head massage.   Oh, and to top it off, take a look at the view from my room.

Next month I plan on treating myself to a massage or some acupuncture to relax me.

I know I am not alone with the problem of not taking time to work on myself, but I am determined to change this and get back into shape.  I will keep you posted on my progress.

Friday, April 16 has been named the official Foursquare Day.

To those who don’t use Foursquare, we are a bunch of crazed stalkers who tell people where we are at all times.  But for those in the ‘know’ it is a great marketing tool for people and businesses!

After tomorrow, anyone who comes in contact with myself or any of my other Foursquare/Twitter Sonoma County friends will see Foursquare in action.    Hopefully we can even show those who disbelieve that it actually is a great marketing tool, one that businesses should be at least paying attention to.

We will be swarming the Brasserie Lounge at the Hyatt Vineyard Creek for snack and drink specials for first time Foursquare friends, drinking wine flights at Cellars of Sonoma and hanging out at Third Street Aleworks for some beer and appetizers.

I wrote about the Hyatt Vineyard Creek in my Sonoma County Online feature on my Two Five Media blog a few weeks back because they were the ONLY business in Santa Rosa to have a special deal on Foursquare  (Now, Third Street Aleworks and Cellars of Sonoma both have specials).

The official Twitter name for tomorrow is @4sqday and the official hashtag for the Sonoma County Wine Swarm will be ….. #4sqSR or  #4sqdaySR. I am thinking the shorter the better though.

So make sure to tag your Foursquare check-in’s and tweets with the hashtag!  If you are a newbie or want to learn more, just ask me.. I will be sure to be at one of these three places tomorrow!

More details:

• The Hyatt is trying to get a swarm badge, which means if 50 or more people check in, everyone gets a badge.  First time check-ins also get a free drink.  There will be other specials too!
  • You can earn up to three badges just by checking in – First-time users get the Newbie Badge, if we get 50 people to check-in, a Swarm Badge and all check-ins to the Brasserie will get the FourSquare Day Badge (remember, Foursquare changed the rules, so you actually have to be there to get points of a badge!) More info, click here.

• Third Street Aleworks is doing happy hour pricing ALL DAY for check-ins… Oh, and if anyone takes away my mayorship they get a free t-shirt! (Not that I am gonna allow that!) More info, click here.
• Cellars of Sonoma is giving away a free flight of their wines to anyone who checks in!  More info, click here.

See you in Santa Rosa!

+Shana.

February is over… The first Sonoma County Restaurant Week has passed and Sift Cupcakes & dessert Bar  has opened just a block away from my office in downtown Santa Rosa.   The shortest month of the year had been one of my busiest months since I started working on my own.

And it was amazing….

I have gone into detail on all my other blogs, so here I will just add some of my favorite pictures from the past month.   Yes, they all have to do with food…..   I am thinking my next client needs to be a gym.

I have the great honor of being one of four speakers at the Wine Road‘s “Why Social Media” event tomorrow morning.  The Wine Road is an association which covers all Northern Sonoma County’s appellations, including Dry Creek, Russian River, Alexander Valley, Chalk Hill and the Sonoma Coast, so attendees will only be those who are winery/vineyard employees in one of these appellations.  Thankfully these are my favorite wine regions, so I will have lots to talk about.

Good friend, Hardy Wallace (Lifestyle Corespondent for Murphy Goode) will be the main presenter, discussing different social media sites and guidelines/tricks for each.  Keri Hansen, my co-presenter for the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau will be teaching people how the Tourism  Bureau uses Social Media.  Matthew Ashcroft, a local Internet Professional will be  helping attendees to get started.  And I will be coming in to talk about how social media marketing starts off with a strategy, giving examples of case studies from brands I have worked with.

To see the pdf of the Wine Road Invitation, click here!

Though, just note this seminar is only for Wine Road members only…  If you are interested, I am setting up a series of more seminars that revolve around the hospitality industry starting in Jan 2010!  Email me if you want to know more!