I understand. In the beginning, way back when, it was hard to manage a fan page or a business page or anything else from your personal Facebook account because it was clunky and weird. But, for as much as I complain about Facebook - they really do have some elegant tools for people to manage business pages now.

It's time to move if you have not.

What do I mean by this?

If you log-in on a personal level and your "name" on Facebook is the name of your business or blog, you are violating Facebook's guidelines, and they could shut you down. Not to mention, people like me will not accept your friend request.

The best practice is to have a personal account, under your real name, and a business or fan page under the business, band, personality, nonprofit or blog name. Whatever your "thing" is rather than a specific person. And it will be attached to your personal account.

A personal account makes events. It friends people. It builds relationships on a more personal level. It is supposedly more private. I say "supposedly" because, let's face it - whatever you put on the internet is fair game, particularly with how often Facebook changes their privacy controls and how confusing they are.

Why would you want a business page?

Statistics. Facebook has a very nice set of analytics to show you new likes, level of interactions and my personal favorite, "virality." Virality gives you a snapshot of your most popular posts - and I use this info to build more content in that same vein.

Targeted Content. Give people who like your business what they want to see. You can still interact with them on a personal level, and you should. They just don't need to know what your family reunion looked like, unless that works for your business. The point is, you separate business from your own stuff.

Advertising. You can promote your page and/or specific posts that are important from a business perspective. When you get over 5,000 likes you can also add targeting to your advertising. Further note: Personal accounts are capped at 5,000 friends, whereas business or fan pages are not - giving you the flexibility to have many, many more people in love with your business or fan page.

Multiple Admins. You can add several people help you build content on page, whereas if you are operating as a personal level, you all need to have the one password and then log in and out. Yuck. Since fan pages work best when the content is interesting and consistent, this is an important factor. Get a bunch of people to help you!




OK. I use my personal page for business, how do I do make the switch?

1. Start a Facebook Business Page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/create

2. Change your personal account to your real name.

3. Announce the new business page on your personal page.

4. Go to your business page admin section and pull down from "Build Audience" to "Invite Friends" and start inviting your Facebook friends over to your fan page.

5. Build content on the Business or Fan Page.

6. Repeat.




Extra Tip: Get A "Vanity" Facebook User Name

Depending on a few variables you may be immediately be able to get a "vanity URL" or username for your Facebook fan page, or your page may need to get 30 likes before you can pick a name.

Once you are eligible, go to the Facebook User Name page:
https://www.facebook.com/username/

Obviously pick a username closest to your business name, with the easiest spelling and no extra numbers or letters if possible. This will be the URL you can now put on your advertising or the name you say to people in person to help them find you on Facebook, so keep it simple!

Good luck, friends!

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You all have any other
Facebook Business Page
tips to share?

Labels: Blogging, SocialMedia, Tech, Work

For a long time The Fray has been one of my favorite bands. Watching them rise to stardom has been almost like rooting for your local baseball team (if I liked sports). Oh, The Fray are appearing on another national something or other? Time to pop the popcorn.

Especially since during that time, Dex was little, and I wasn't doing much concert photography. It's hard to get out when you have a baby and all you want to do is sleep.

However, when that baby grew older and it came time for his very first show at Red Rocks, I knew it HAD to be The Fray. In the pouring rain. With lots of close friends.

Almost exactly a year ago to the day, via Monika's Timehop:

What's extra cool is I photographed that show. I am pretty sure it was *my* first time shooting at Red Rocks as well. Although all that rain may have ogled my memory.

And as they say, one thing leads to another and a few weeks ago, I was able to photograph Joe King's CD release show at the Bluebird.

I could tell it felt like coming home for him, a small bar, with an enthusiastic hometown Denver crowd, and a backing band full of friends.

Oh you know, like Shawn King of DeVotchKa... Patrick Meese of Meese and The Centennial... Serafin Sanchez of Bop Skizzum... opener Nathaniel Radcliffe (photos coming soon of him and his amazing new band), plus a marching band finale including Fray bandmate Ben Wysocki on drums.



Joe's solo EP is different than the Fray, just like any good solo album should be. Fun, Melodic, pretty, and showcasing Joe's great voice. I really dig it.



I am particularly in love with the track, "Something Less Dangerous," featuring friend and amazing singer Bethany Kelly of Churchill. That one gets stuck in my head for days.





The Fray was formed in 2002 (the year Dex was born) so Joe King has been performing in a big way for a long while. It shows in his stage presence. I am not just saying this, I had a blast at his show. I look forward to King taking his album out again, with or without the marching band.







Be sure to check out Joe's site and follow him on Twitter and/or Instagram.

Labels: Brands, Colorado, Music, Nostalgia

©2013 Sesame Workshop. All rights reserved.

There is a new character coming to Sesame Street, and his name is Mando! While I was at the PBS Annual Meeting in Miami this past week, PBS KIDS arranged for us all to sit down and talk with Ismael Cruz Córdova, the actor who is bringing Mando to life, and the amazingly loveable Rosita - who has always been a favorite around our house.

Ismael is from Puerto Rico, so we were able to talk about my visit there, and also about his musicality - which of course is one of the wonderful things about Sesame Street, the singing and dancing.

Mando is obviously not the first bilingual character on Sesame Street, but I love how they continue to embrace not only diversity, but also FUN. The first Mando t-shirts have his awesome silhouette repeated in bright colors and say "Me encanta mi cabello!" (I love my hair!) Dex immediately wore his to school yesterday, because 5th graders love Sesame Street too.

OK, fine, 43 year old moms love Sesame Street, as you can clearly see in my interview with Mando and Rosita:



Many thanks to Ismael, Rosita, Sesame Street and especially PBS KIDS for making this possible.

Also, big shout out to Keaton Simons for allowing me to use his amazing song "Gonna Shine Brighter" in the video.

We can't wait to see Mando on the 44th season of Sesame Street!

Labels: Brands, Education, Family, Music, Parenting, Video

I feel very lucky to be a PBS Kids ambassador, although I feel very silly that they call us  "VIPs." Which is curious because it's not like because called an "ambassador" is any less weird.

One of the amazing perks is we are able to attend the big PBS Annual Meeting, where they reveal a lot of the programming for the next year, and celebrate the triumphs from the previous one. It's a week long event, and this year it's in Miami. After all that Denver snow this Spring - you can imagine how thrilled I am to drip my toes in the ocean.

Things kicked off last night, we have the Sesame Street breakfast this morning (usually with at least on of the characters in attendance) and I have been asked to speak on social media tomorrow with none other than Kevin Dando, the head of social for PBS.

So OK fine! Maybe being called a VIP is pretty cool after all.

Labels: Brands, Education, SocialMedia, Travel, Work

I am doing more and more work helping clients with Pinterest and several have asked how to upload an original photo as a pin. I figured I would share my instructions! Now, remember, these should be your original photos, not ones you found on the internet somewhere.

_________________________________________________________________________

1. Once you are logged in to your Pinterest account, roll over your profile picture and pull down to ADD PIN.









2. You will get a window to browse your desktop for a file, or you can add an image URL (like a link to Flickr).













3. Click the CHOOSE FILE button and look on your computer for the image file you would like to use.













4. Choose the board you would like your pin added to and write a description.








5. Click the SEE IT NOW button so you can go back and add a source URL.






















6. Roll your mouse underneath the image and the EDIT PENCIL will appear. Click the pencil.


 











7. Add the URL of where you would like the pin to link to and click SAVE CHANGES.

_________________________________________________________________________

That's it! Pretty simple, even though some of the steps are a bit hidden.

P.S. If you are wondering about Tellerpalooza, it's the annual fundraiser I work on for my kid's school and it's happening THIS SATURDAY!

Labels: Education, SocialMedia, Tech, Work

We moved to Denver in 1994, and the name Nina Storey has floated around my consciousness since then. She was one of those artists that you listened to her albums, and thought, DAMN. Her voice kills. And you saw the posters for shows around town and swore you were going.

But for whatever reason, I never did. (I know. Ugh.)

Nina moved to LA five years ago, but around here, she will always be Coloradoan.

I saw her new album, "Think Twice" pop up on my Rdio new releases in early January and I have been listening non-stop ever since. It's seriously SO good. Something that makes you feel good. In particular, I love the title track, "Gimmie Some," "Private Army," "Come Back," "Run For Cover," and the stunningly beautiful "This Naked Woman."

THEN when Nina popped up on my concert alerts, I immediately requested a photo pass. Nina immediately wrote back and asked what the heck "Greeblemonkey" meant.

Oh yeah. This was gonna be fun.



And that's the thing, just like her music (six albums to date) Nina in concert is fun, kind, engaging and damn gorgeous.









She has two upcoming shows and you can guess which one I will be attending.

May 21st
Hollywood, CA
Hotel Cafe
9:00pm

July 6th
Denver, CO
Cherry Creek Arts Festival (free)
1pm

Seeing as I went all this time missing Nina Storey concerts, I have some making up to do.

Labels: Brands, Colorado, Music

When Chipotle called to ask if I wanted to try their new Patron margaritas for Cinco De Mayo, I had one question:

"You guys serve margaritas?"

Apparently they always have, but just revamped the recipe to make it taste better, with simpler ingredients:

• Patron Silver Tequila
• Triple Sec
• Lemon and Lime Juice Blend
• Organic Agave Nectar

Over dinner we sampled the premium Patron version and it was very nice.

Just like they said, simple.

If you have ever been out with me, I tend to order light beer just so I don't drink too much, too fast. But when I order mixed drinks, margaritas are among my favorite. And I do love when "fast casual" restaurants allow me to have a nice drink with dinner.



Seeing as Chipotle is a Colorado company, I have met the folks there several times. We chatted about many things over dinner - travel, music, and - of course - all the new things Chipotle has been up to.

I am not really sure how I missed the Cultivate Foundation, which was started by Chiptotle in 2011 to support sustainable agriculture. My favorite part is when the "Willie Nelson Back To The Start" video was mentioned... my son whipped out his phone, searched, and brought up the video in about 5 seconds flat.


Love the animation style, the message, and even though I am not a huge Coldplay fan, the song.

I look forward to The Cultivate Festival this summer, which will bring together some of my favorite things. Music and food.

San Francisco - June 8th
Denver - August 17th
Chicago - September 7th

See you there?

Labels: Brands, Colorado, Education, Food, Music

You *may* have noticed that over the past years, I have been photographing more and more concerts. One thing that is really cool about this fact is meeting the artists, and then staying in touch via Twitter.  I shot the amazing Keaton Simons a while back when (also amazing) local Denver singer Megan Burtt opened for him at the Soiled Dove. In fact, another amazing (and young) singer played that show named Jaden Carlson, and she went on to perform at my big school fundraiser Tellerpalooza.

Keaton was kind enough to have me in recently with he played Alice 105.9's annual acoustic show "AuNaturAlice." Other performers included Vicci Martinez, Matt Hires and Lifehouse. Vicci Martinez was on The Voice, but I found her album randomly on Rdio, and it is amazing. Just as she is live. Amazing. And I like the word amazing.

Matt Hires was fun, especially since his backup band coincidentally are friends - members of The Heyday - who have *also* performed at Tellerpalooza.

I am going to be honest and say that Lifehouse disappointed me. Lead singer Jason Wade chewed gum the entire set (yuck), had reverb on his voice (remember, acoustic show) - an effect he definitely did not need, and then the band only played about five songs.

Ah well.

Like I said, I was there to photograph - and then later hug - Keaton Simons. I highly recommend you go see him whenever, wherever you can. I look forward to the next time I see him in Denver, or on Twitter.







Keaton's new album "Beautiful Pain" was released yesterday and it's just as pretty as previous albums. Listen to it off his site here.

He will also appear on friend-of-a-friend's The Baub Show tomorrow morning! Be sure to check them out!

Labels: Brands, Colorado, Music

A few years ago, I attended a PBS Kids dinner during a conference. I walked in and there stood Angela Santomero, the co-creator of Blue's Clues and Super Why. 

Can you imagine how I felt?  ME, who made Blue's Clues birthday cakes for at least three years running when Dex was younger? Me... The person who still sings the "bedtime business" song at night? To. this. day.

Luckily, Angela is like *the* sweetest person in the world. We hit it off, became friends and she also hired me for some social media work when she was starting her blog, Angela's Clues. She then went on to launch Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, which is just about the cutest show since, well, Blue's Clues.

She is now in the running to launch two new shows with Amazon Studios, but it is based on voting. She needs our help to get them produced. Please watch the videos below, and add your reviews just like you would any Amazon product. 

I love them both, but personally, a show about art would really make my day. OK. Fine. A smart math gal would be awesome too.

CREATIVE GALAXY
In the Creative Galaxy (a galaxy made up of different art inspired planets) lives a creative preschool alien, Arty, with his mom, dad, baby sister and his shape shifting side kick, Epiphany. Arty explores the Creative Galaxy, soaring to the Museum Planet and the Painting Planet (and many more arts based planets in future episodes) to “fix situations with art!”
(Review it here!)



SARA SOLVES IT
Sara Solves It is about a strong female role model, Sara, who uses math to solve mysteries with her little brother, Sam. Together, Sara and Sam explore their world on the look out for mysteries... math mysteries!
(Review it here!)



Check out these two wonderful pilots and add your two cents. YOU could help produce the next songs your kids are singing at bedtime!

Labels: Art, Brands, Education, Friends, Parenting, Tech, Video, Work

Saturday was my birthday and in some ways it amuses me that I turned 43. Many people are shocked at that fact - until they see me when I first wake up, wrinkles and puffy eyes in full force.

I loved my 30's, so I wasn't particularly scared of turning 40 - until all my health problems started happening. Now, I am just more determined to get things in order and get back to life.

People often say that Bryan and I "do so much." Which I suppose is true in some sense, but we also don't "do" a lot of other things. We don't belong to a softball league. We only watch TV shows after they are compiled up on Netflix. We definitely do not get up early.

We stay up late, and we go out often.

So it probably seems like we "do more," when really, we feel like our 40s have slowed us down a bit.

OK, me in my 40s have slowed us down.

But I am getting better. My diabetes numbers continue to improve and I hope the weight I put on while sick will eventually come off too.

Sure, I nap like we have a baby in the house again, but I would rather do that and feel better, and get out there - than not.

For my birthday, I had good wishes come in from around the globe and it reminded me how lucky I am. To have such dear friends near and far, and - yes - be able to "do more."

Here's hoping this year I get to do even morer.

Labels: Balance, Nostalgia