What's Your Favorite Car Game?

The holidays are here and that means we'll be driving here, there, everywhere. Sometimes short drives and sometimes looooooong ones. Like any planning planner, I'm looking for some cheap and easy ways to entertain in the car.

Maybe I have it easy (or maybe actually I have it harder) because the folks I need to entertain in the car are only me and John. No kids for us, a puppy perhaps, but no kids.

On the agenda are

• Books on CD, whatever I can find at the public library the day I stop by.
• Podcasts, whatever I've managed to save up on my MP3 player. Stuff You Should Know and This American Life are good for road trips.
• Who Am I? Guessing game much like 20 questions, but we don't play with a limit.
• The Alphabet Game, locate the entire alphabet in order on any item outside the car.
• Slug Bug. Need I say more.
• Trivia Pursuit, minus the board.

So what's your favorite car game?

My Dog Has a House Key

It seems everyday John and I treat the dog more and more like a real kid. Yesterday we gave her a key to the house.

Not the kind of key you're probably thinking, but an infrared key to her dog door. Boogie's dog door (the purchase and installment of which was a saga worthy of several blog entries) is very fancy and it allows us to lock, unlock or limit access.

The limited access means only an animal wearing a programed key can open the door. It's designed to keep out vermin. We use it to keep the vermin in, namely the bad cat, Mr. Mojo.

It took a bit of training to get Boogie comfortable with the door. At first she was afraid of it, then she'd sit and wait to use it until we gave her permission to use it, but finally she comes and goes as she pleases. So, we decided it was time to start using the key.

We'd put off this part because the locking mechanism makes a noise and there is a slight delay in the unlocking all of which were hindering our doggie-door-training efforts.

Boogie's first attempt at unlocking the door went a little something like this: I take out a treat and ask her go outside. In her enthusiasm to be treated she charges at the door and totally wipes out cartoon-style as she slams into the locked door. After a dazed moment, it unlocks and she pops right through. Surprisingly, her first rough encounter with the limited access door hasn't fazed her, and she's only unlocked the door for the cat once.

Christmas Train is Coming to Guthrie

The Christmas Train is coming, the Christmas Train is coming! I love riding the train, and soon it will be coming to my hometown, Guthrie.

The Guthrie Chamber of Commerce has been working with ODOT and Amtrak to set up a special visit to Guthrie by the Heartland Flyer. The Heartland Flyer is scheduled to arrive in Guthrie December 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th: the first weekend of the Territorial Walk.

If this year's Christmas Train is successful, there is a chance we could have train service for all of Guthrie Festivals. Amtrak has agreed to provide this year's service for at no charge to the city and use it as a pilot for future endeavors.

The train holds 200 passengers. It will leave from OKC, Thursday December 10 at 9:35 p.m. and arrive in Guthrie at 10:55 p.m. Passengers can expect an after-hours reception before they take a walk through town for a little late night shopping. There are plenty of hotels or B&Bs where you can stay over. You be able to get around town via the trolley or rental car, or weather permitting, even a horse drawn carriage.

Amtrak tickets are currently $7 per person for one way, the price could go up to $11 the longer you wait! For Tickets Call: 1-800-USA- rail or visit www.amtrak.com (use the code GUT to bring up the Guthrie Christmas Train).

What a great way to have some holiday fun and do your part to show the powers-that-be that Oklahomans want and will use a light rail system.

Book Recs from SchipulCon '09

Not only did I learn so much my head nearly exploded, I got some very interesting book recommendations at SchipulCon '09. Here what some of the presenters plugged:

From Ed Schipul

• Megatrends
• Primal Branding
• Ren Gen

From Deirdre Breakenridge

• Social Marketing Compass

From Kelsey Ruger

• Think and Grow Rich
• Crucial Conversations

I think I may have broken a record for links in a There's Only Ever One Bonnie post.

Oct. 24 is International Day of Climate Action-Even in Oklahoma

At SchipulCon '09 I learned about so many great things I want to share here, but I decided this one needed to come first because it's actually coming up really fast: October 24!

The International Day of Climate Action is coming to communities all over the world thanks to a group called 350.org. This is what they do:

"350.org is an international campaign dedicated to building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis--the solutions that science and justice demand.

Our focus is on the number 350--as in parts per million, the level scientists have identified as the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere. But 350 is more than a number--it's a symbol of where we need to head as a planet."

It's a pretty awesome movement and it is everywhere even here in Oklahoma. So maybe next Saturday I'll see you at one of these events:

• Local Food Dinner for 100: 4-10 pm
  5900 CR 90, Red Rock, OK, 74651
  100 people will gather at Turtle Rock Farm Retreat Center to eat local foods along Doe Creek. We'll raise a glass of local wine and a 350.org banner to a healthier planet and take a photograph.
• 350kies Take a Stand for Climate Change: 2-4 pm
  6th & Peoria Centennial Park,Tulsa, OK
  Fun activities planned, such as bike ride at 2 p.m. around downtown Tulsa and an interactive art project. Learn ways to reduce carbon emissions and take action by contacting your legislators. Join the picture at 3:50 p.m and show your support for this momentous international day of climate action!
• 350 Climate Action Festival:
  Muskogee, OK, 74434
  Jean will wear her Polar Bear costume, she has 2 other Polar Bear caps...Hold signs
  that say "350" outside the electric power plant..Wave, smile and be friendly.
• 350 Climate Festival and Contest: 10 am
  Norman, OK
  Bike Riders Festival and Costume / Decoration Contest
  

Wheel! Of! Fortune!

Last weekend, I got a last minute invite from my sister to go audition for the Wheel of Fortune. Never one to pass up a once in a lifetime opportunity, I said "Heck, Yeah" and we were off the next morning.

We drove out to the Kickapoo Casino in Harrah, Okla. (I think perhaps "casino" is a bit grandiose for this place. It's more like the Kickapoo Small Warehouse with Slot Machines.) We were worried when we arrived. The line was huge. But it was so super fast to get through. We filled out quarter-sheet applications and dropped them in a box. The line was simply to keep people orderly as they turned applications.

Then we waited--along with 100s of others--for our chance to play a speed around and audition live. Unfortunately, we never got called. Which sucks because we would have been so much better than some of the lame-os that did go up. It was still quite exciting and lots of fun.


There were several people who did great; I'm sure WOF will be calling them back for final auditions. Sarah and I still have a chance, though! They will randomly draw from the applications that weren't picked for a live audition and invite those folks back the finals. Wish us luck.

Need a Social Media Makeover?

Last week, Valerie and I presented to OSU-PRSSA about managing and maintaining your online reputation. I just love working with this group. The students are all so interested and interesting. It was a fun talk, and the best part was all the questions we got at the end.

Here are a few highlights from the presentation:

Who is watching your online reputation?
Future employers tend to be the focus when we worry about this, but it extends much further. After you have the job, you need to continue to be proactive about maintaining a positive online image.

In our office, we investigate someone’s online profile almost weekly. If you apply for a job with us, join another department in our organization, give a presentation we attended, submitted a media inquiry, or talk about us online, we’ve probably done at least a superficial search of your online presence.

Where do they look?
When someone is looking into your online reputation, anything is fair game. More often than not, people put too much stock in their privacy settings. You have to assume, that even if your accounts are locked down, people will find a way to see what you’ve posted.

The most common and basic searches are going to include Google, a sampling of the most popular social networks and your open records.

What are they looking for?
Regardless of how it might feel at times, most people are not out to dig up dirt on you. (not that they won’t discover the dirt if it’s there to find)

What they are doing is: fact-checking your resume, looking to see if you are talking about them, getting a sense of how you communicate, and feeling out your personality.

The Case Study
Our wonderful intern Marissa Chavez volunteered to be our case study. She made a great example because not only is she well established online for someone her age, her profiles are squeaky clean. Valerie took the students step-by-step through an audit of Marissa's online footprint.

The Take Aways

• Establish a reputation. Chris Brogan has an excellent post on how to get started.
• Monitor. Start by Googling yourself; search the web, news and blogs. Run a Twitter search for your handle, and any terms you might be strongly affiliated with. Once you’re satisfied with the structure of these searches, set up an RSS feed to alert you to updates in the results.
• Maintain your reputation. Keep it clean; be honest and thorough. Watch out for controversial topics. Be active and interactive; and, use profiles and links to point people to the stuff (your blog, twitter, etc) you want them to see.