Bits you may have missed this year!

Hello! I've missed you. How have you been? I want to give you a big hug!

I had nearly completed this blog post a week ago and then, BAM!, blogger had other ideas and then deleted the whole flipping lot.

This year is going by scarily fast. I can't keep up with it! Still, it's better than being bored and boring and feeling like time is dragging.

This is a bit of a quick recap of some of highlights of 2013 so far! More to come, I hope. No, there's no 'hope' about it. There will be more highlights if I have anything to do with it.

Let's dive in!

Newsletter: I thought it high time I start a monthly newsletter; Notes on social media, photography and doing the work you love. It's something I think I should have done a long time ago really, but better late than never. There have only been two issues so far and it's been an interesting process, which I've written about here.  Also, there comes with it a little pressure (self imposed I guess) of 'Will people like it? How will I feel if they unsubscribe? Will anyone subscribe to it?'. But sure, you have to try these things and ignore any self doubts or you wouldn't do anything. And I'm so appreciative when someone subscribes! If you would like to get it too, please feel free to subscribe here!

The first and second Birmingham Social Media Cafe events of the year have gone really well with a great turn outs and a interesting mix of social media peeps from the city! 29th March will be the next event so come along if you are in/near/can get to Bham and want to mix and mingle with peeps with a shared interest in social media for work and play! 

Digital City Social Graph by Brian Simpson

I went along to the BBC's Digital News Day in January. It was a day of events aimed at people in involved or interested in digital media in the city. I blogged some hyperlocal thoughts that came from the day and the seemingly increased demand for hyperlocal news sharing.

First London EyeEm Meetup

Photo by the Wheyway

EyeEm is a Berlin based photo app and it's become a very strong rival for instagram, especially after the instagram terms and conditions debacle.

EyeEm ambassadors are getting on board in lots of cities around the world, and I was invited along to the first London EyeEm Meetup which was arranged by Dirk Singer.

Photo by Kaaren. Pay attention everyone! :) 

Check out EyeEm's blog about the chilly but fun photo walk around Greenwich and check out awesome photos from the event. 

'My' book launch!

For the first time I have contributed to a book! And not just any old book, it's the Community Lover's Guide To Birmingham!  My chapter was a about the 4am Project and creating a global project from scratch and not waiting for the right time or any one's permission. The chapters should be available to read free online sometime, so I'll give it a shout out then! Lorna Prescott has made a great Storify about the launch event!

Being Social!

One of my goals this year is to be more social. The going-out-and-seeing-people-in-person kinda social. A friend said that he thought I go out and about all the time, but really, I don't! I can be quite a hermit, lost in my own happy world of work. I know that I do need to get out more and meet up with friends more often, so with that in mind, I'm arranging Being Social Days. I'll pick a day, get in touch with friends, and schedule a whole day of meeting and chatting and catching up. So far so good! I think this is a nice addition to my generally going out and about!

There's a few of my highlights of the year so far. I am seriously scared about how fast this year is going!

And I really don't want to neglect this blog. I guess Karen Strunks Media is getting it's share of blog posts, but I do want to spread them out evenly. If in doubt, just stop by karenstrunks.com which is where I keep track of everything under one roof!

How is your year going so far? Is it going to quickly? Is it exciting enough? Do you need more excitement in it? What are you looking forward to the most?! We've still got about 10 months to fill! :)

Say Hi on twitter @karenstrunks 

Winding down for the rest of the year

Or that was the plan. But it hasn't really work out that way. It's my own fault. I find it hard to slow down. Besides, what would I do if I wasn't doing the things I love?

Having said that I've blocked out 2 weeks over Christmas and New Year and there's NOTHING in my diary! And I have the best intentions of keeping it that way. No schedule. No appointments. No commitments. No nothing. Looking back this year, I've only had one week off and even then I was away somewhere or other. I'd like to think I'll spend my two weeks off chilling at home and watching films and pottering about. Let's see what happens with that idea, ha!

A quick blast of some of the highlights of Nov and this month so far.

Fierce Earth Course.

This was 2x two days away at the Stratford Manor Hotel (4 stars! yay). I could write a years worth of blog posts about this course I'm sure. If Fierce Earth run the course again, try and get on it. Before I went on it, I asked an attendee from a previous Metapod course what they thought of it, and would they recommend it - "It's changed my life!" they responded. What a testimonial! But do you know what, I can understand it. It's helped me shape a sharper picture of my work, ideas and business. Things that have been milling around in my mind for the past year are now taking shape with more clarity and focus. If I could do the course again, I would.

talk about local 

Myself and Nicky delivered a workshop on hyperlocal blogging in Evesham which went really well and all the participants were up and running by the end of the day. We also had a big team visit to That London. We are quite geographically dispersed as a team, and while it's great to be able to work from anywhere, it's always fab to get together offline too.

York

I've already blogged about a ace weekend I had in York with my mum. We are aiming for a weekend away together in Canterbury next year!

Birmingham Youtube Gathering


A couple of weeks ago I popped along to my first youtube meetup. It was really well attended (over 50!). It was held over the Saturday and Sunday, but I just went on the Saturday afternoon. If you love youtube and love meeting up offline watch out for the next one in 2012. Keep an eye on @chapperztv @jordanngv @gordycamp as they are the organisers. If you can't see my video here, pop over to youtube



Birmingham Social Media Cafe

I held the last Birmingham Social Media Cafe event of 2011. Christmas is in the way of this month, but the cafe is back on 27th January! If you haven't been before, please come along! It's held on the last Friday of every month and it's for anyone with an interest in social media, whether you use it for work or play. It's a great place to meet people offline, make new friends and connections. It's also a really casual and friendly event. You can follow BSMC on twitter @birminghamsmc and join the 500+ member facebook group too! Meegloo is sponsoring coffees in January. Check it out - it's a fab, free, social media app for your iphone, ipad or ipod. If you or your company would like to sponsor coffees (up to £200) at a social media cafe event next year, just give me a shout. It's a great way to reach the social media community in Birmingham!

Birmingham Airport's Christmas Drinks

My first Christmas 'do' of the season! It was held at Hotel Du Vin in the city centre. I've done some social media reporting for the airport on my press trips so it was really nice to get an invite to the night. There was a mix of airports, airlines, media peeps, press and travel bloggers there and it was a fab night out.

Fierce Earth's Christmas drinkies

As this post is a bit devoid of photos - The People's Shop festive window display!

And that brings us up to last night! This get together was for all the peeps that went on the Metapod course this year and was held at The People Shop in Kings Heath. I had my first mulled wine of the season and it was lovely to catch up with peeps and get an inspiration fix.

This week coming is nice and varied. Sunday lunch with a friend. A meeting about Birmingham and mapping city council service request data. A twitter Secret Santa meet up. A day delivering social media training.

In the meantime I'll leave you with one of my fav Christmas songs! Christmas doesn't officially start until my friend Midge posts this video! :)

I'm taking over the running of the Birmingham Social Media Cafe!

I am delighted to announce to that I will be taking over the running of the Birmingham Social Media Cafe!

It is an honour to be passed the baton by Chris Unitt and Ian Ravenscroft who have been doing a fabulous job of running the Cafe for the last 18 months or so after being handed the reigns by founder Joanna Geary. Thank you to Joanna, Chris and Ian for doing such a great job with the event!

You may be asking "What is the Birmingham Social Media Cafe?"

From the website: The Birmingham Social Media Cafe is a place for people interested in social media to gather, get acquainted, chat, plot, scheme, and share. If you’re interested in the future of media, how we organise, share, produce and enjoy it, then come along. If you’re an artist, film maker, geek, marketer, academic, musician, designer, writer, photographer, or anything close or related, then please come along.

It is held on the last Friday of every month from 10am until around midday, or longer if you are busy meeting and chatting! The venue can vary a little, but recent venues have included Birmingham Town Hall, Cafe Blend and the Coffee Lounge so keep an eye on the website or twitter for the latest update

I remember the first time I attended the Social Media Cafe about 3 years ago. I was just making my first steps into the online/social media world and making online connections with people in Birmingham. Attending the cafe was a great opportunity to meet those online connections face to face and say hello.

As mentioned above, it's open for anyone to attend so if you haven't been before, don't be shy, come along! You are guaranteed to meet a friendly and interesting group of people. If it's your first time, just give me a shout and I'll introduce you to folks.

You can follow the Birmingham Social Media Cafe on twitter: @birminghamsmc and you can find me @karenstrunks

See you there! :)