I enjoy connecting with people from diverse professional backgrounds. So if you are here and reading this then feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn and follow me on Twitter. The links are on the top right corner of my website and on every page so let's connect and see how we can help each other. I am always happy to help with an introduction if I can or a referral if you would like to connected to some of my professional contacts. If you have any specific requests, then feel free to email me through the contact form on my website and let's get talking!
Two organizations where writers can connect with their colleagues in Atlanta are the Atlanta Press Club and the Magazine Association of the Southeast. Luckily, they are both having mixers in February and you can join me there with my friends. Here are the links to RSVP: Atlanta Press Club mixer Magazine Association of the Southeast mixer See ya there!  I think I had mentioned in an earlier post I am chapter host for Ed2010 - a national-level organization that brings together magazines editors and editor wannabes to help achieve their dream magazine industry jobs. I organized the first speaker session for the city chapter on the 9th at the Hypepotamus, a co-working space in Atlanta. Our speaker was the lovely (pictured above with me) Sue G Collins, editor of Buckhaven Lifestyle magazine, who I have the pleasure of working with currently as the proofreader for that publication, and occasional article writer as well. Sue was excited to share about her experience as an editor, about the magazine she works with, and also gave some tips pitching and approaching editors for writing assignments. The event was attended by a good group of enthusiastic writers, freelancers and students representing quite a few Atlanta area publications. There were giveaways galore thanks to Sue, and I had a few Fair Trade Federation calendars from my other business to hand out as well. There were also healthy muffins to snack on courtesy Frannie's Gluten Free. Definitely saw a lot of networking happen and business cards being exchanged. I sent out a post-event survey to see what folks thought and what their feedback was so hoping to hear some constructive criticism that I can work with. The next event is scheduled for April 10th so if you are in the area and interested in the local magazine publishing scene, you should join in on the fun. More images here.  And just like that we are into the new year so here's to a whole year of awesomeness and success to you. May all your personal and professional aspirations be achieved! I always use the first 10 days of the year to look back and see what pending jobs I have that I can complete from the past year or before the holidays. And then I use some time to plan for my year ahead, immediate assignments that need to be completed and quarterly, half-yearly and annual goals to work towards. I don't use these as rigid parameters but they give me some kind of framework to direct my efforts toward. I decide where I want to be or what I want to be doing and work backward from that to see what I can do in smaller steps that in the long run will take me closer to my success points. So I wish you success in planning for your business as well! If you happen to be in the Atlanta area and are part of the local publishing industry, be that magazine, editorial, writing, blogging, etc. then the speaker sessions I am organizing as host of the local chapter for Ed2010 should be of interest to you. Our first session is in a few days - Jan 9th at Hypepotamus close to the Georgia Tech campus. You can get more details on the event page. It will be a great opportunity to network and meet members of the community that share the same interests as you. I hope to see you there! Again Happy New Year :) My brother's visit to Atlanta was simply lovely, a great break for him and for me. Glad to be back in action, rejuvenated and happy! Since tomorrow is Feb 14th, I wanted to show some love towards the networking groups I am a part of for this business. Since I have another business specializing in green products from India, I have to network specifically with groups pertaining to these businesses. I am a member of the Freelance Forum of Atlanta as well as the Atlanta Independent Women's Network. You can check them out here and here. I am also chapter President for Ed2010 - a networking group for professional magazine editors and those who want to pursue a career in magazine editing. It is open to editors, writers, reporters, and pretty much all folks in the publishing industry. Check out the Atlanta page right here. I enjoy meeting people, networking, connecting. As a member of AIWN, I have had the opportunity to meet some very established professional women working on successful businesses. One of them is Veronica Brown and she is with http://www.truefruit.com Check them out sometime. They are also presenting later this year at one of AIWN's meetings. Cant wait! Yours truly has now signed on to be a member of The Magazine Association of the Southeast (MAGS) - the premier organization you should be a part of if you are involved in any aspect of the publishing industry, in my case, that being editorial. I believe they've around for 20 odd years and host the annual GAMMA conference! I am happy to be a member here for 2012 and cant wait to see the interesting opportunities it will bring my way. Networking enthusiast that I am, further efforts to find resourceful networking groups that I can be a member of to connect and obtain leads for this business resulted in my becoming a member with the Atlanta Women's Independent Network (AIWN), a small and new group of women entrepreneurs from the most varied fields that have come together to help nurture and empower other women entrepreneurs. I attended their holiday party today and that pretty much sold it for me. Every single board member came over and introduced themselves once they knew I was a new member. They were all so friendly and approachable, ever ready to share information about the group and their experiences being members. They pulled together a fabulous holiday event, with food and a silent auction as well as wine tastings. They sure impressed me with their annual event calendar for 2012! I am upbeat about this group and look forward to the January meeting which will be a showcase for members to display their talents. You be sure I'll be there! If you've been reading my blog you probably have read the name Walter Akana here before. Walter and I met through common friends and our mutual fascination for technology and social media had us hitting it off right away. I met with Walter today so we could both sound off ideas on what we were doing and where we were going professionally. Walter happens to be a life coach, works on projects for some big companies and has an inspiring website that will keep you captured and enslaved in no time! If you need Walter for your next company training session, reach out and rest assured he will grab the opportunity to work with you. He is a real people person, one who is very approachable and friendly, and has a lot to share that could well be worth your time and effort. In order to connect with other creative professionals in the metro Atlanta area, I decided to become a member of the Freelance Forum. It's a steal at less than $100 for annual membership. It's a closed group that meets on fixed days of the month at a fixed time and location so that makes it easy to have the events on your calendar through the year. They are a great group...I attended a handful of events before I decided to join the group and found each session to be as helpful as the next. Their session today was on using LinkedIn to further business presented by Dianne Crompton. She had her book available there for purchase, and of course, I jumped at the opportunity to grab such an amazingly useful resource. I had another surprise in store for me when I found out my dear friend Walter Akana was quoted in many chapters!! |  Connect with me!Looking for a guest blogger? Msg me your blog link and let's see what I can write for your audience! ArchivesJune 2013 CategoriesAll |
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