Tour of some Disney World resorts

On our recent trip to Disney World (we're proud members of Disney Vacation Club, so we go down a few times a year), we went on a bit of a resort tour (and stopped at a few pools to cool off, too). Here are our pictures from our stops at Pop Century Resort, Caribbean Beach, Port Orleans, The Contemporary, and All Star Movie Resort. Enjoy!

More photos of the wedding

It's fun when almost two years after an event, you see friends who give you more pictures! Cindy and Rich Takvorian came over last night for dinner and were kind enough to give us a CD of the pictures they took during our wedding.

Thanks, Cindy and Rich! We really appreciate it!

Here's a slideshow of the pix:

Compost heap

Well, we're finally starting a compost heap in a corner of what we jokingly call a back yard. There's a little section in back of Paul's office that we'll never use for anything else. And between the bunnies' litter boxes, their salads, and our gardening we're sure to have lots of material to make it a big healthy pile of goodness for our gardens (both flower, in front of the house, and veggie in back).

Problem is, neither Paul nor I have any idea about how to start a compost heap. So we consulted wikiHow's article on composting and now have a good idea.

Here's the video from wikiHow:

If you have any tips for us, please comment and share! We'd like to learn all we can about it!

Al Gore's Boston speech, March 2009

Has it really been 4 months since I posted? Ugh.

The Al Gore speech/interview was just great! The interviewer wasn't so great, but Al was wonderful.

We recorded it so we could share it with you.

A very Harry Holiday

Best concert EVER!!! Harry Connick, Jr. was ON! He was alluring and gorgeous and magnetic and fun and amazing. It was hard to believe it was the last show of his holiday tour, because he was on such a roll. His jokes were funny, his audience interaction was great (he couldn't get over some cookies that an audience member made for Harry and the band and Lucien).

He joked all weekend at this 3 Boston shows that he couldn't believe we came out to watch him. "If it were me, I wouldn't have come." A great stage performer makes jokes he's used for 3 days sound off-the-cuff. Harry is a great stage performer.

Happy Holidays!

OMG! OMG! OMG! We're going to see Al Gore!

I just bought tickets to see Al Gore speak at Boston's Wang Theater on March 30, 2009, which is, incidentally, the night before his birthday! But he's giving the bday present to US! I've been waiting just YEARS!!!! to see Al speak. I'm so excited I can barely type!

Only slightly less exciting (and only because we've seen him before in concert) is our upcoming Harry Connick, Jr. holiday concert this Sunday night, which I got last-minute tix to. I'm a bundle of anticipation!!!

Harry AND Al! I just can't wait!!! (Only have 2 days to go for Harry!)

We Are the Merry Fiskateers

In the first chapter of Secrets of Social Media Marketing, I wrote about Fiskars, the Finnish maker of fine cutting tools that uses a community of scrapbooking enthusiasts called Fiskateers to evangelize its products to specialty craft retailers. It's a perfect example of how to use social media to create street-level awareness.

Dana, wasted no time in applying to become a Fiskateer, and last weekend she attended a gathering of her fellow crafters in central Massachusetts sponsored by Fiskars. What a bounty of gifts they received! Dana counted no less than 15 raffles for the 28 attendees. She won four of them and carted home about $500 worth of swag. Above is a photo of the goodies.

Fiskars sent lead Fiskateer Kelly Jo as well as one of its "Fiskaneers," which is what the company calls its engineers There was also a representative of Brains on Fire, the media agency that conceived of the community. Fiskaneer Doug chatted with the group about ideas for new products, yielding great insight from dedicated crafters. The attendees were treated to plenty of food and a trip to the nearby Yankee Candle superstore. The spent the rest of the afternoon crafting together.

Did Fiskars overdo it with the sheer quantity of stuff it gave away? I doubt it. These 28 women have already declared their allegiance to the brand, and giving them more incentive to promote Fiskars through their online and offline social networks can only help boost word-of-mouth marketing. The group has been designated "crafting ambassadors," only it's clear that the brand they favor is Fiskars. By harnessing their enthusiasm, Fiskars can extend the value of a few gifts to a much broader audience. The cost of goods for this exercise is cheap compared to the value of good cheer the participants will spread.