Sixth Sense Technology - and a good book!

A couple of weeks ago, I finished the book, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (2012).  It follows the story of the author, Cheryl Strayed, as she, a novice hiker, sets off to hike a large portion of the Pacific Crest Trail.  Along the way, she goes through stretches where she is far removed from civilization – and food and water.  Cheryl has to rely solely on her guidebook (a printed-paper copy of an actual book) to provide information about available resources and things to watch out for along the trail.  She hiked the trail around 1995, so this was in the early ages of the internet and way before smartphones.

As part of my assignment for class this week, I watched this incredible TED talk about Sixth Sense technology. I could not stop thinking about what a difference SixthSense technology would make for campers and hikers.  Of course, it would have made a difference for Cheryl Strayed in 1995, but even today, with all our technological advancements, there is not a product that brings these tools of the trail into one seamless experience! 

The original TED talk was in 2009 - 7 years ago! Can you imagine the progress researchers have made? 

Speed Networking - A How-to Guide

You've probably heard of "Speed Dating," an activity designed for single people to get together and meet as many potential Mr. or Ms. Rights as possible.  A couple of months ago, I was at a party, and we did a different version of speed dating - more like an icebreaker to get to know everyone at the event.

I decided to take the idea a step further, so we could use it in a work setting.  We have people moving in and out of our departments all the time, and usually we only know them well enough to say "hello" at the coffee pot.  This is a fun (and fast) way to get to know people - at work, in a social club, or even at a party!  You can always adjust the questions to slant it more toward the social, or more toward the professional, depending on the group!  Here are the basics - but you can tweak any of the steps so it can work for you.

Click to Share - 3 reasons why you SHOULD be sharing

The idea of “sharing” is tossed around pretty often these days. The rise of social media and availability of the internet to virtually everyone makes it very easy to share (and sometimes over-share) everything from music to presentations to what you had for breakfast on a particular day. Here are a few reasons why sharing is a GOOD thing:

1. It's the Way we Learn

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of listening to George Couros, the self-described Principal of Change, spoke about “Leading Innovative Change.”  At one point, he stopped his presentation and asked the audience, “Who in this room has something they can teach me?”  At first no one moved – which is especially interesting since he was addressing a room full of educators and administrators. Eventually, most people in the room raised their hand, he said, “Great! So where’s your stuff?