The Gift of Education: A Salute to People Pursuing Continuous Studies

Yesterday I rejoiced for a colleague at Bozzuto who was graduating from a continuous education course. While you go through life- school and then college you almost say to yourself "never again" and plan on not studying again. The world changes fast, knowledge and learning can get redundant soon, as my tell my students who attend my New Media Plaforms and Techniques Class at Georgetown University  that the world moves at such a fast pace that I will not be surprised if some of what they learnt in my 3 hour class may become redundant with a new release of a disruptive software. 

I recently returned from speaking at the International Conference of Deans and Directors in Warsaw, Poland. people representing many Universities and institutions that  cater to professionals who want to pursue higher education were present at the conference.

My take away is that if an opportunity to learn presents itself, whether it is an MBA or a course at the local community college you should pursue it. Check with your benefits administrator, as most companies reimburse you an amount that you spend towards higher education. Gift yourself a higher education. I did and find that very useful.

Tomorrow I will be teaching a great group of students at Georgetown's School of Continuing Studies

See my Interview in Bob London's Drivetime Marketing

If you are not already subscribed to Bob London's Drivetime Marketing you should. He video blogs very interesting thoughts and trends in marketing. In this epissode of DriveTime Marketing I was interviewed by Bob London. We spoke about my transition to  Bozzuto  as VP, Digital Marketing. Enjoy the Show !

Coming to our neighborhood Chris Brogan's ImpactNEXT Tuesday, May 21st, The McKinley Theater

I have had the honor of knowing Chris Brogan, CEO&President of Human Business Works for a few years.In many ways Chris Brogan pioneered the art of human connections through offline and online relationships. He co-Founded the Podcamp movement where I spoke for the first time in public in the US.
I am excited that he is bringing his ImpactNEXT conference to Washington DC with 3 hour  sessions on these two important topics..

•  Mastering the Digital Channel and 
•  Creating Content that matters

There are several reasons to attend ImpactNEXT and one of them being the ability to learn by example. Chris Brogan has succeed in making an Impact. Chris Brogan's company Human Works helps companies develop a vision plan for growth Chris Brogan has authored several books ( rumor has it that both Chris and Julien decided that I was a good example of a Trust Agent when they met me at SOBcon) and has been part of the online and digital community for a long time helping others grow.I look forward to being there.

Check out the ImpactNEXT DC event page, it is different. Hope to see you there.
I recently attended SOBCon 2013 in Chicago where I had the opportunity to hear Chris Brogan speak. We were all inspired by the talk and here are some reactions from other attendees.

WHCD: A Festival of the Media, By the Media

The 2013 White House Correspondents Dinner (WHCD) was held on April 27th at the Washington Hilton. I was invited to a pre-dinner party by Thomson Reuters and got a chance to experience the spirit of the White House Correspondents Dinner. The venue is very convenient, a few blocks from the Dupont Circle Metro (I expect not many attendees would use the Metro) and about 2 miles from the White House

The lobby of the Washington Hilton has a section cordoned off for photographers and when any celebrity enters you can see the flash bulbs go off and the celebrities stop and pose for the photos. Nothing of this kind happened as I walked in ;). The main event is a "back tie" affair. The receptions (Yes- There are many of them) also specify black tie yet it didn't seem to matter as long as you dressed well.The 2013 White House Correspondents Dinner is a celebration of the media and a chance to mingle with the subject of their reports in a causal atmosphere. The Thomson Reuters party had a Photo Wall where they showcased the best pictures from Reuters which were amazing and memorable. Any organization sponsoring events would like to reinforce their brand and Thomson Reuters did a great job. There were many celebrities at the Thomson Reuters party including Kathleen Turner and actors from Downtown Abbey.

Celebrity Spotting was fun. Ariana Huffington very gracefully responded to my greeting.

Other celebrities I recognized - Aasif Mandvi, Julia Dreyfuss, Nicole Kidman (My photo is blurry), Gerard Butler, Newt Gingrich (See photo below), Juju Chang - 'Good Morning America',

I was at the party with author and speaker on B2B Marketing Paul Gillin, Giovanni Rodriguez- CEO of SocialxDesign and a contributor to Forbes, Jen McClure - Senior Director, Digital & Social Media of Thomson Reuters and was awesome to meet Lauren Young- wealth editor at Thomson Reuters and host of Money Clip - in person.

My Commute Has Gone North with My New Job

As I enter the 4th week of my new job at The Bozzuto Group I wanted to share my commute experience. For the first time my commute is in a northern direction from the Rockville/Gaithersburg area on I495.  This also means I am entirely in the State of Maryland and there is no crossing the American Legion bridge. Best of all it's a shorter commute.

5 things to learn on a new commute :

1. Gas stations : Looking for the cheapest gas, I think Greenbelt has cheaper rates than Rockville/Gaithersburg but since the Bozzuto offices are right near the interstate exit going for gas is a detour.
2. Banks : No change here as Capital One banks are everywhere
3. Alternate routes and traffic backups : As you spend a lot of time on a particular commuter route you get used to which lane is the best. I do not like changing lanes much so I choose one lane and stick to it. In this new route , I have not chosen a route yet that I can stick to from end to end. The Metro is not a viable option since the Washing ton DC Metro does not have a circular line so there is nor interchange between the green line and red line other than going to downtown DC. The ICC is more than 8 miles added to my commute and also  $4 more expensive.
4. Restaurants : There are a lot more to discover and I have been to the TGIF, Chefs Scret, Osaka and of course also took a colleague for lunch to the IKEA restaurant. I am looking forward to try the restaurants around the Bozzuto Apartment Community The Palette Apartments not far from Greenbelt in Hyattsville specially the BusBoys and Poets.Of course restaurants in downtown DC are only 10 miles away
5. Beer Run : I want to try the http://fenwickbeerandwine.com/ which was voted one of the best places to buy beer in the DC area. I will however miss my detours to Total Beer and Wine in McLean and the nearest Total warehouse to Greenbelt is in Laurel again about 10 miles in the wrong direction.

On the whole my office in Greenbelt is kind of centrally located  Close  to DC, Baltimore, Montgomery  County and not too far from Arlington.

I am sure there is a lot to discover on this new commute route. Do you have any suggestions?