Archive for the ‘Fame and Fortune’ Category

Send Bean to SOBCon 09

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

If you have taken any of of my online blogging classes, you have hear me talking about some of the amazing blog innovators that will be at SOBCon 09. Successful Outstanding Bloggers Convention (SOBCon 09),  is Biz School for Bloggers and will be held May 1-3, 2009 in Chicago.

Chris Aarons David Bullock Chris Brogan
Brian Clark Saul Colt Chris Cree
Kali Evans-Raoul Stephen Hopson Michael Martine
Geoff Nelson KD Paine Melissa Pierce
Wendy Piersall Brian Solis Julien Smith
Stephen Smith Terry Starbucker Liz Strauss
Lorelle VanFossen Denise Wakeman Glenda Watson Hyatt

But in true Liz Strauss style, the speakers, as awesome as they are, are not what makes this business blogging conference such a wonderful opportunity. What makes it so special is that this  blogging conference  is all about communication and implementation. This is not a conference where you are expected to absorb all of this information in a lecture hall and then try to apply it on your own at home. After presentations, participants will work together in creating strategies and action plans for their own businesses as well as the sponsors.

I am really excited about how this conference is set up. It mirrors my own philosophies about teaching and learning. In my online classes, I try to provide students the opportunity to practice the content of the lessons and encourage participation in the class message boards.  I want to be able to attend SOBCon 09 so I can learn there, practice there, implement there and then bring the new knowledge back here and share it with my students.

I have some obstacles in my path to SOBCon 09 and I have spent a lot of time debating whether those obstacles are surmountable. I even asked about SOBCon 09 as an exercise on my student’s I Ching blog! I have talked to a couple of the speakers who agree that it will be challenging, but not impossible for me to participate.  Some of my students have expressed their support in my attending SOBCon, so I decided to make my intent to attend official. I am now actively seeking solutions to making it happen, including sponsors. I am asking my students to consider if they want to invest in that knowledge and help send me to SOBCon 09. If you want to make that investment, you can can chip in here!

Become inspired or share inspirations here

Friday, February 6th, 2009

Welcome to the February 7, 2009 edition of LVS Online students, staff and alumni Blog Carnival on Inspiration.

Participants were asked to share art their art and stories about inspiration. Submissions are categorized into Art, Classes, People and Poem & Stories. This edition of the carnival addresses sources of inspiration as well as our struggles to find inspiration. I invite you to visit the links here to find inspiration and to offer inspiration to others. Although submissions are no longer being accepted for this blog carnival, you are encouraged to share your own inspiration links and stories in the comment section.

Art

Karol’s post reminded me of my own iris inspiration on a wintery day years ago.

Karol Grace presents Longing for Spring posted at Three Dog Studio Art and Photo Journal.

Barb shares with us how a photo, a quick snapshot of a moment, inspired her to create a painting that told the story.

Barbara Hartsook presents Painted for Story… People Photo Inspires an Oil Painting on Canvas posted at Over Coffee…, saying, “People photos inspire stories, which I like to paint. This one is Kali at the Beach, and the story is “Just a Moment to Myself, Please.” I am a student in Bean Fairbanks’ on-going Blogging Studio.

Adele shares how her childhood inspirations have evolved online

Adele presents Inspiration: Nature, Art, I Ching and Internet posted at I Ching Meditations, saying, “When I am inspired I draw that person, place or event into myself and then expel it out, like the act of breathing, involuntary and necessary for life”

By duty or design, how does inspiration strike you? This is the question Val addresses in her post on how inspiration personally evolves for her.

Val P. presents Inspiration posted at CorelDRAW Classes @ LVS Online.

Inspired by a student’s art, this LVS Teaching Assistant takes the subject matter and makes it uniquely her own.

Sliloh presents Wine and Cheese posted at Sliloh’s Rambles, saying, “Good art and good conversation really bring my creative muse out.”

Elaina shares some of her students’ art work with us.

Elaina Moore-Kelly presents Inspiration! posted at Corel Painter Classes, saying, “My students are my inspiration. They work so hard and are so happy when they “get it”. Teaching has become one of the most important things in my life and I love doing it.”

See how the inspiration and education Tina acquired at LVS Online, took root.

Tina Katnich presents Tina Louise Photography: Timothy & Jessica’s Wedding – Santa Barbara posted at Tina Louise Photography, saying, “I am an LVS alumni member. LVS got me started with digital photography when I began taking photoshop classes, and then I even took an html coding class! I received such inspiration from the classes I took I started my own wedding photography buisness! I love making magic with my camera and it all started with LVS from home! Check out my work! I’m even doing destination weddings now!”

What do you want to make today?

Many Creative Gifts presents Ain’t He Cute?! posted at Many Creative Gifts — “be thoughtful”, saying, “Not an article — just a picture of a cute crocheted axolotl that I created in response to a request. But, I hope it will inspire others to explore their creative possibilities.”

This is a late addition to the carnival but I included it because Ellen share lots of her tips for finding inspiration for art.

Ellen presents Art – Inspiration from Books and Elsewhere posted at Ellifolks: Bears, Critters and Stuff.

Classes

One outline, three apples…

Elaina Moore-Kelly presents What can you do with Painter? posted at Corel Painter Classes, saying, “I’m an instructor for Corel Painter at lvsonline.com I wanted to use this blog page to give my beginning Painter students an idea of how versatile the program can be.”

Kat shares with us how getting expelled started a whole new career and a myriad of relationships.

Kat presents LVS Online Classes Inspires Kat posted at LVS Online Classes, saying, “I am partner and instructor at LVS Online Classes. My association with LVS Online is definitely the source of much inspiration. . . .to work and continue to learn; to meet new people and experience new challenges; to remember that standing up for what’s right always pays off in the end; to live each day to its fullest; and, finally, to stop and smell the roses!”

Kat’s second post talks about how Flash has inspired her and her students.

Kat presents Flash Inspirations posted at Flash Classes @ LVS Online, saying, “We teach what we teach because we enjoy the topic we are instructing and enjoy sharing our knowledge. Our real reward comes from our students journey in learning and the appreciation that is shown on completion.”

People

When I am asked why I blog, I think of Chester and how instrumental his blog was in raising the money and support to care for him as he battled Glioblastoma

Bean presents Priceless posted at Healthy Chester, saying, “I think this post so eloquently illustrates how humor and love inspire us to live despite desperate obstacles.”

A story of one teacher inspired confidence to pursue artistic inspirations

Hillary presents Inspiration — My Story! posted at Digital Art Classes, saying, “I carried that finished oil home that night and carried it with me all around the house, totally disbelieving that I had created something I was proud of”

Sliloh challenges us and inspires us to recognize our own interactions.

Sliloh presents Are you a great mind? posted at Sliloh’s Rambles, saying, “Great minds discuss ideas…..and ideals too I think.”

Poems & Stories

Valerie casts an inspiration incantation for her readers.

Valerie Beeby presents Magic! The Spell of the Purple Owl posted at Valerie Beeby, saying, “This poem is actually part of a children’s fantasy novel I never published.”

My patio pots look much better now, thanks to the inspiration that I received in this post.

Carol presents Inspiration? posted at All About Daisies.

This post is for ‘fabricohlics’ everywhere. My garage and closets would look very different if I had this!

Deb Hamele presents The ?UFO Club? posted at Blue Barn Farm Blog, saying, “This is a story about the “UFO Club” which is a group of quilters who help inspire each other to finish their quilts.”

How do you handle inspiration block?

Marilynn presents If you could have just one . . . . posted at Marilynn’s Antics.

Adele shares her personal I Ching on inspiration

Adele presents What does the I Ching tell me about inspiration posted at I Ching Meditations.

A tale of canine motherly love.

Rainbow presents The White Love posted at My Beagle Blog.

That concludes this edition of the LVS Online Blog Carnival. Although it is too late to be included in this blog carnival, we invite you to share your own stories of inspiration here in the comment section.

Digg!

Submit your blog article to the next edition of lvs online students and alumni using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Spread the Love with Blog Contests

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

Blogging contests can be a fun way to promote your blog while discovering other blogs that might entertain, inform or offer insight. There are three main ways to benefit from a blog contest:

  • Explore a lot  of posts on a topic of interest to you. Blogging contests consolidate links from posts all over into one central place, making it easy to browse. In this example, it is a consolidation of pet pictures.
  • Increase the number of visitors to your own blog. Once your link is part of the contest, it becomes part of that central resource, making your post easier to find for those interested in your topic.
  • If you host a blog contest, you benefit from the traffic drawn to your site for people searching on that topic. Most contests require a link back or some kind of button like the one below. This brings attention to your blog, as the contest host, on every blog that enters.

  • Some blog contests offer prizes other than just bragging rights. These can range from free services from the blog contest host, to money, to free products, to gift certificates.

Here is my entry for this week’s I Heart Faces blog contest on pets, with an optional theme “The eyes have it”.

adoration1
Here is Ebony, my service dog, as a puppy looking adoringly at Fergus. She was absolutely devastated when Fergus passed this fall. He was her everything and this picture captured the adoration, trust and respect she had for him.

How it works

  1. Check the contest guidelines. Here are the guidelines for the pet photo contest this week.
  2. Prepare your post according to the contest guidelines.
  3. Submit your post to the contest. Be sure to submit the permalink to the post, not your general blog address. Most contests will have an entry form on their web site to enter your permalink.The entry form for the pet photo contest is a form on this page at I heart faces for week 4. NOTE: This page and form make not be available after the contest closes. They host weekly contests, but only accept submissions Mon-Wed. No entry form will be available Thurs-Sun.
  4. Browse and comment on other entries in your spare time.
  5. Check back at the end of the contest to see if you won. If you have time, it is nice to congratulate the winners.

Let us know if you are participating in any blog contests. We would love to see what you are doing.