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Tag: Neuron Robotics

… And Facebook for All — Company PagesFacebook, advertising, account settings, Profile Page Part, Home Page, Working, Facebook, Rest, Facebook versus Forums, Company Pages, offsite sharing, Facebook Page, demystifying Facebook, Facebook Video Ads, Facebook to Allow Users to Login with Less Info, Facebook video ads, Facebook Ads vs. Google, Organic Reach Decline,

… And Facebook for All — Company Pages

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 5, 2021

Liberty, Justice (?), … And Facebook for All – Company Pages

Company pages have become spots you put together on Facebook to support a business (not the same as a fan page).

However, like everything else on Facebook, these pages and their settings do evolve, and they’ve gotten simpler these days. Currently, the following features are available:

  • Change Background Image/Avatar
  • Edit Page
  • Promote with an Ad
  • Add to my Page’s Favorites
  • Suggest to Friends
  • Information
  • Insights
  • Friends Who Like the Page
  • People Who Like the Page
  • Favorite Pages
  • Photos
  • Links
  • Events
  • Wall
  • Info
  • Photos
  • This Week
  • Notes
  • Videos
  • Post Scheduling
  • Various Apps

Company Pages and Details: Change Background Image/Avatar

This one is rather self-explanatory. Furthermore, a good, bright background image is good, as it shows up when you share the page. In addition, you might want to change these on occasion as that generates an update.

Edit Page

Manage permissions, add an address or business hours, etc. here.

Promote with an Ad

This is fairly self-explanatory. Note that Buffer has said that Facebook ads are a mixed bag.

Add to my Page’s Favorites

So here’s where another company you can link your page to your event pages.

Suggest to Friends

Fairly self-explanatory.

Information

This is basic information such as the company’s location.

Insights

First of all, this provides basic click information, including the number of Likes and Views. In addition, you can also see information on age and gender demographics and, most importantly, when people are online.

Friends Who Like the Page

Fairly self-explanatory.

People Who Like the Page

Fairly self-explanatory, except this includes people you are not, personally, friends with.

Favorite Pages

This goes back to adding a page as a favorite. And it shows which company pages your company has favorited.

Photos

Fairly self-explanatory.

Links

Fairly self-explanatory.

Events

I’ve found adding events to be hit or miss. First of all, not everyone RSVPs, and not everyone shows up even if they’ve said yes. However, it provides more exposure and it will bring your page up to people as the event date rolls around. Because even people who are clicking “No” are still looking, at least a little bit. So use with discretion and don’t overdo this. Because not every activity is an event, and not everyone should be invited to everything. Since that’s just plain annoying.

Wall

Fairly self-explanatory. In addition, you can control who can add to your wall. However, keep in mind that if you are free and easy with this, you’ll get more posts but you might also get spam. Although if you shut this down, you end up with Posts to Page. And it’s easy to miss these!

Company Pages Info

Here you add more detailed information. Hence this includes the company’s address and its business hours.

Photos

Fairly self-explanatory. Posts with images nearly always do better than those without, so upload an image if the link you’re sharing doesn’t have one. Make sure you have permission to use the image!

Notes

Fairly self-explanatory. Hence add notes like you would on your own personal page. E. g. these are almost discussions. However, the responses are relegated to subordinate comments versus the kind of back and forth that comes from the wall or the discussions page. And this is, admittedly, a nitpicky distinction without much of a real difference. I would, though, suggest that you not use the Notes section for blogging. Instead, get a blog through WordPress (yay!) or the like and do it that way. Because the Notes section ends up a rather poor substitute for that.

Videos

Fairly self-explanatory. Hence if you’ve got videos uploaded, they can show up here. However, this is not the same as linking to a video hosted online elsewhere.

Company Pages: Post Scheduling

Fairly self-explanatory. So just post to your wall but pull down on the post button and select Schedule Post. In addition, if you’ve been looking at your Insights, you should know when people are online. And of course you want to try to post when people will see your posts.

Various Apps

Finally, go to Edit Profile and there is an option for Applications. However, these days, the only ones are Notes and Events.

Want More About Facebook?

If this article resonates with you, then check out my other articles about the largest social media platform on the planet.

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What Would You Do For the Love of Communities?Community Management, Scale. Freshening, Get Together, Love, Small Things, Without Management, True Community, Party Started, Terrible Netizen, Snakes, Circle Game, Look, Netizen, Corralling, Wandering off Topic, Facebook versus Forums, Superstar Users, Analytics, Community Roundtable, Community Management Haikus, Life of a Community Manager, Social Media Job Descriptions, Superstar Users, Community Roundtable 2010

What Would You Do For the Love of Communities?

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 28, 2018

Love, Communities, and the Captivating Charm of Togetherness

What would we do for the love of communities? What is it about an online community?

Just what, exactly, draws people together online? Perhaps that is the better question.

Social Technographics FTW

So when you look at Groundswell, the authors have the thing all figured out, or at least it seems that way. Internet users are divided into various social technographics profiles.

First of all, people who join online communities are called Critics (about 25% of the United States). People who create content, including not just making and contributing to discussion topics and blogs but also uploading photographs and other media are Creators (about 18% of the US).

And the lurkers, the folks who watch but don’t participate, are Spectators (48% or so of America). People overlap and can be members of any or all of these groups, or of other groups I won’t get into here. Furthermore, of course, this only covers people who are online.

Note: this tool was created by Forrester, but it’s gone now.

This is in our nature, or at least in some people’s natures. But there may be more to that so what follows is my own personal story which I hope will be of interest.

My Own Background

I first really got online socially (although I had used computers offline for years before then) in 1997. Princess Diana had just been killed, and for whatever reason I wanted to discuss this with someone, and my husband was not being too terribly cooperative. We had a fairly new computer with Internet access.

I don’t know what possessed me – I just felt the need to talk to someone about Princess Diana, someone I hadn’t even been a particular fan of before. Perhaps it’s because her death, at the time, was so shocking. And, by the way, I do not feel the need to talk about the ridiculous feud between her sons. Seriously. But I digress.

I found mirc, a chat client. There wasn’t anyone to specifically discuss the matter with, but there were people to talk to. And so a love affair with social media and online communities began.

More Challenges

By 2000, I wanted a more challenging group of conversationalists. The Presidential election was so close and so interesting that I wanted to talk to someone about it. A colleague from India was even asking me: Are all American elections like this? and I did not have a good answer for him. I wanted to learn.

Plus, it was the same feeling as in 1997 – I just wanted to have a conversation. I found Abuzz, which was owned and operated by The New York Times and The Boston Globe (the Globe is important to me because I live in Massachusetts). Here were intelligent people who were just as fascinated by the extremely close election! It was exciting.

A2K

By 2002, Abuzz was losing steam and my friend Robert Gentel contacted me. He told me he wanted to teach himself PHP and create a forums website, but that he didn’t want to manage the community. Would I do that? Would I become the Community Manager? Of course. And so Able2Know was born. I’ve been managing it ever since.

In 2005, I joined Trek United – again, with the username Jespah. I even did some moderating there, but it was too much to do that, my regular work, Able2know and also work seriously on my own health. I wrote a column for the original Hailing Frequencies Open ezine, and enjoyed it, until it, too, became just one more bit of overwhelm and so I put the column to bed, in 2009 if I recall correctly.

Branching Out

In 2008, when I joined SparkPeople, it was obvious to me that my username would be Jespah, and that I would actively participate.

In 2009, after my Reporting Analyst job was outsourced and I came to a personal understanding – given that I already had over seven years of Community Management experience under my belt and hence had more to say about it than many experts – I decided to shift gears in my career and go into Social Media marketing.

I began attending Quinnipiac University for an Interactive Media (Social Media) degree in 2013. I wanted to learn about communities, and about why some things in social media work, and some just plain fall flat. And I graduated in 2016.

What does this all have to do with the price of tea in Poughkeepsie? Well, perhaps nothing and perhaps everything. My Internet identity was forged over a decade ago, and in a very different set of circumstances than one that is seen these days with online collections of users.

Working in Social Media

As a professional Community Manager and Social Media Specialist (I worked for a startup called Neuron Robotics, and for a while in the freelance writing arena), there was much more of an emphasis on staying on message. The mission was to keep the talk within the confines of what the company needs.

However, that startup had a looser feel than in a larger corporation but the principle was the same: get people their information and then move on to answering the next inquiry, or at least get someone who can answer it. Socializing, per se was not totally out, but it was limited, and not just on the company side of things.

It was the users, as well, who did not wish to socialize. After all, do you go out for a beer with the guys manning your local Help Desk?

Specialities

And so online communities become far more specialized and almost scripted. User asks question. And user receives answer. In addition, sometimes, another user offers a second opinion. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I occasionally used to get together with fellow Community Managers to talk turkey. And it surprised them when I mentioned I’d written perhaps a dozen user obituaries.

What?!?!?!

Yes, really. I have done that (for Abuzz and Able2know).

And I’ve written user newsletters, not only for Trek United but also for Abuzz (we called that one AARON – An Abuzz Regular Online Newsletter – I loathed that acronym, still do).

For the Love of God, What Are the Users Doing?

Users go to communities and find that they have their own intrinsic values. One of the things that online communities have over Facebook (at least for now – never underestimate the power and ingenuity of Facebook’s IT staff) is that you can still carry on a truly sustained conversation here. People talk, and not just for a few hours or days or weeks, but for years!

Various Star Trek Countdowns started back in 2005. Yet at least to 2021, it continued. On Able2Know, word games and political discussions can go on for years. Users love these communities within the whole.

Online communities have shared values and in-jokes which other communities do not have, either on or offline. It’s like the Masons’ secret handshake, or wearing a Magen David around your neck. You subtly tell others who you are and what you love.

You Gotta Love Secret Handshakes

Trek United had the countdown and Hailing Frequencies Open. Abuzz had nutella and a mysterious green Chevelle. Able2know had capybaras and Asian carp. Now, I don’t even know what A2k has. SparkPeople had (or at least my little corner of it had) the Top SparkPeople Pick Up Lines and diet haikus. Those who are in, understand.

Those who want to be in, make an effort to know. And those who don’t want to be in, can never seem to understand this kind of love.

It is a small jump from this kind of enclaving to creating one’s own community, and then the process repeats itself and, like all good little processes, it winds down and then winds back up again as users come together, break apart and reconfigure like so many amoebae in a petri dish.

But it is more than user cycles and outside determinism like access to the Internet which drives this dance. It is the music of the spheres and the essence of what it means to be a social creature. It is hard and soft, slow and lightning fast, familiar and different and a billion more things. And isn’t that a part of what love is?

Merrily we roll along, for it is love which, to misquote The Captain and Tennille, brings us together.

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The Five Elements of Hip-Hop Content StrategyContent Strategy, Halvorson, Hip-Hop Content Strategy, Content Monster

The Five Elements of Hip-Hop Content Strategy

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 22, 2015

A Look at an Oldie: The Five Elements of Hip-Hop Content Strategy

On June 2nd, 2010, I got to attend The Five Elements of Hip-Hop Content Strategy. The speaker was Ian Alexander. Ian is down to earth, informative and fun. The meeting was hosted by Content Strategy New England. A special shout-out must go to the tireless Rick Allen.

Ian led us through a history of both hip-hop and content strategy as a discipline. Neither one sprang up overnight. So the roots are in the 1970s or so, perhaps earlier.

Then it was down to business – an outline of the Five Elements.

Hip-Hop Content Strategy – Five Elements

#1. DJ’ing – on the Content Strategy side of things, this is the technical expertise. It’s being able to understand and apply semantic categories. It is being able to interpret analytics. So a Content Strategist cannot be a Luddite. She cannot fear spreadsheets.

#2. MC’ing – on the CS end, this is the editorial expertise. Often, this is what people think of when they think of Content Strategy. It is acting as a copywriter, a librarian, a research analyst and something of an artist. The Content Strategist finds and tells the story. He or she selects the format and helps to promote the brand.

The Content Triangle

This is where Ian introduced the concept of the Content Triangle.

Building Trust

(a) The first type of content is Trust Building. This is where a company establishes its expertise. So it is also where it provides value to its clients and potential customers. Here is where the company is informative about internal and industry trends.

For a product-based company, this area should encompass approximately 30% of all of the content. For a service-oriented company, this area should be about 70% of all of the content.

Informational, Please

(b) So the second type of content is Informational. This is basic internal site information, such as the Contact Us page and the FAQ. This is for users to understand how to, for example, return a defective product.

For a product-oriented company, this area needs to be around 30+% of all content. For a service company, that figure should be around 20+%. So in either instance, start here.

Calls to Action

(c) The third and final type of content is Sales/Call to Action. Somewhat self-explanatory, here’s where you close the deal. The deal need not be a commercial one; your call to action may very well be for your reader to sign up for a newsletter.

For the product-based company, this area will have to be around about 40+% of all of the content. In the case of the service company, it’s less than 10%. So either way, this should be A/B tested.

So in all instances, analytics must drive the percentages and the content.

Hip-Hop Content Strategy – More Elements

#3. Graffiti – for the Content Strategist, this equates to design expertise. Infographics are, according to Ian, only going to continue to become more and more popular.

#4. Breaking – to the Content Strategist, this element represents Information Architecture expertise. The two are related but not identical — cousins, not twins. Yet the gist of it is the concept of movement through a site. So, what are the funnels? What kind of an experience do you want your users to have? What’s your preferred destination for them?

#5. Knowledge – this final piece of the puzzle speaks to the Content Strategist’s Project Managerment/Change Management expertise. Change concepts are disposable, iterative and proposed. It is the idea of moving from a concept to a solution.

The best solution is not the best solution, per se – it’s the best solution that you can implement. For, without a consensus (and a budget and a signed contract!), the so-called best solution is no solution at all.

But What Does it All Mean?

Content Strategy is different from Content Marketing. So the first must drive the second. One of the best ways to help the discipline to get more respect is to branch out the network. Get to know people in vastly different disciplines (say, Robotics, for instance).

So, what about helping the client? Think differently. So generate a 404 error and see what happens. Sign up for something: what kind of message does the user get? Is the message consistent with the remainder of the site’s look and feel and philosophy? Is the footer out of date?

Check sites like Compete and Tweetvolume for more information about how a company is really doing. So note: Compete does not exist any more!

So consider CMS Watch as well. Know the company’s baseline strengths and weaknesses and understand related practices and disciplines. So note: CMS Watch now redirects to Real Story Group.

Takeaways from 2010

The Content Strategist often wears a millinery’s worth of hats, not just during a particular project but in any given day. For the CS to excel, he or she needs to have an understanding of fundamentals in a lot of areas, and be able to speak knowledgeably.

Fortunately, acquiring and applying that kind of knowledge makes and keeps this discipline fresh and exciting. Plus, Ian clearly has fun every day. And who wouldn’t want a piece of that?

A Look Over 13 Years Later at Hip-Hop Content Strategy

Welp, things have changed. Big time! Ian is no longer under the above URL. So you know, it’s the one in the first paragraph. And two other sites no longer exist. Plus, the world is a lot different now. So that includes my life.

Now, as I look back on older posts like this, I can see where I did not write them too well. In addition, I can also see where older events were, can I say it?

Kinda gimmicky.

So, I get what Ian was trying to say. And a lot of his advice is still spot on. Yet now, though, I think there are other ways of saying it.

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They Used to Call me Robot Girl

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on November 4, 2014

They used to call me Robot Girl?

It’s true. They used to call me Robot Girl.

But I haven’t blogged for a while. Yeah, I know.

I was uninspired and didn’t want to just subject all two of my readers to my ramblings. Plus, I was looking for an actual day job.

Robot Girl Gets A Day Job

Well, I found one. It’s a temping gig for a large financial services company which shall remain nameless. I am a Financial Analyst, preparing and running database reports. The job is rather similar to several other gigs I’ve held. And then I will be back in Social Media full time.

In the meantime, the Bot Boys are not forgotten, and I actually blog more for them that I had been. The need for Social Media exposure does not diminish just because I’ve got a new gig.

But I wanted to reach out, on this blog, for the first time in quite a while, to offer up some of the things I’ve learned along the way. So gather ’round, and hopefully I can help someone else to navigate the wild world of startups.

Some Wisdom from the Trenches

  1. The best gift that anyone can offer startups is money. Advice and expertise are great, and they are helpful, but it all pales in the face of do-re-mi. And while startup competitions may not want (or, truly, be able) to part with too much of it, it is money that is most needed because, to truly succeed, someone has to quit their day job. You know, the thing I just got a few weeks ago? Yeah. Someone has to take a flying leap into outer space – but that person still needs to be able to afford ramen and a futon.
  2. Speaking of ramen and futons, the startup game is, often, played by the young. This is not to say that those of us who were born during the Kennedy Administration have naught to offer. Rather, it is that we have mortgages. We may have children. We have lives that often require more than minimal Connector-style health insurance. We may have aging parents, credit card debt or any number of things that make living off ramen, on a futon, nigh impossible.

And More

  1. However, this does not mean that the not-so-young do not have a place in the land of startups. But that place is often a different one. The enthusiastic feel of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney
    Cropped screenshot of Judy Garland and Mickey ... robot girl
    Cropped screenshot of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney from the trailer for the film Love Finds Andy Hardy. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

    (now I’m really dating myself) yelling, “Hey, kids! Let’s put on a show! We can get the barn!” is replaced with “Let’s see if we can get this thing to work before defaulting on the mortgage/Junior needs braces/gall bladder surgery is required/etc.” Our needs are different, and we may be more patient with setbacks. This does not necessarily spell being less hungry but, perhaps, less able to truly go for broke. The not-so-young person’s role in a startup is often more advisory. We are the ones who can’t quit day jobs until the salaries are decent. And that day may never come.

  2. Startup events are best when they have a focus. Mass Innovation Nights, I feel, is something of a Gold Standard. There is a coherent beginning, middle and end to each event. It’s not just a lot of business card trading. The participants and the audience get good conversational hooks. Making contacts is vital – I hooked up with the Bot Boys at an event like that – but it can’t just be “Hey, let’s get a bunch of startups together, eat pizza and trade business cards!” The startups that are succeeding are too busy for such activities. And those that aren’t ….

And Even More…

  1. Cloud computing, apps and software companies are everywhere in the startup space. With the Bot Boys, we can stand out a bit as we are a hardware company. Having a product that people can see and feel is valuable amidst a sea of virtual stuff.
  2. The downside to that is that hardware companies have spinup problems that cloud computing companies just don’t have – app companies do not have to worry about shipping and packaging. They do not have to perform quality control checks on shipments. They do not have to work on product safety.
  3. No one wants to talk to the job seeker, but everyone wants to talk to the entrepreneur – and those are often the same person! Human nature is a bit odd in this area, but I have seen people who are barely past the “I’ve got this great idea I’ve sketched on the back of a napkin” stage where there is a flock of interested people swarming around, whereas a person honest about looking for work is often overlooked.

Kinda Sad But True

  1. Charisma counts. While one founder is going to be the inventor or the developer (the idea person), the other pretty much must be the socializer. Otherwise, even the best ideas are all too often buried. Someone must be willing and able to do public speaking, elevator pitching and sales. This need not be an experienced sales person, but that person has got to be a lot friendlier and a lot more fearless than most.
  2. Most startups and most entrepreneur groupings will fail, morph, coalesce or break apart before succeeding. And perhaps that is as it should be, for being nimble is one of the characteristics of a successful startup. If the product sells when it’s colored blue, but not when it’s colored green, dip it in dye, fer chrissakes!
  3. We all work for startups, or former startups. Even the large financial services firm was, once, a gleam in someone’s eye. Every invention started off as an idea. Even day jobs were, at one time, in places where the founders were living off that generation’s equivalent of ramen and sleeping in that era’s analogue to a futon. Yet somehow, against the odds, they made it.

And a lot of today’s startups can, too.

See you ’round the scene. Robot Girl may have left the building. But I have not.

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WPI Venture ForumStartups, WPI Venture Forum, September 15, First Hosted Event, First Event, Tonight, Lean Into Spring, Mass Innovation, TEDxBoston, EditMe, 2010 Acquia, May 12, Lean Startup Circle, 2011, Enzee Universe Conference, Ditto Labs, countdown

WPI Venture Forum

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on October 29, 2010

Why is the WPI Venture Forum so Important?

Why did the WPI Venture Forum matter so much?

Without getting into too many specifics, let’s just say I know where I’m going to be on Tuesday, November 9th.

WPI Venture Forum.

Wish us luck.

Twelve Years Later, the WPI Venture Forum

It’s great to see that this venue and this concept are still around, over a decade later! However, it is under a new name.

Now, you should just call it The Venture Forum.

Much like it was back in the day, this is a way for promising local startups to connect with people who want to help them get business financing. And… just maybe get capital from others.  It does not seem to be a place to connect with venture capital firms.

But I admit that I could certainly be wrong about that.

Startups and Money

I have written about this before, but it sure as hell bears repeating.

  1. The best gift that anyone can offer startups is money. Advice and expertise are great, and they are helpful, but it all pales in the face of do re mi. And while startup competitions may not want (or, truly, be able) to part with too much of it, it is money that is most needed because, to truly succeed, someone has to quit their day job. You know, the thing I just got a few weeks ago? Yeah. Someone has to take a flying leap into outer space – but that person still needs to be able to afford ramen and a futon.
  2. Speaking of ramen and futons, the startup game is, often, played by the young. This is not to say that those of us who were born during the Kennedy Administration have naught to offer. Rather, it is that we have mortgages. We may have children. We have lives that often require more than minimal Connector-style health insurance. We may have aging parents, credit card debt or any number of things that make living off ramen, on a futon, nigh impossible.

Startups and Those of Us Who Are No Longer in Our Twenties

Or thirties, forties, or fifties.

Ouch.

The world of startups most definitely has two settings. Either you are a go-for-broke, you don’t know what you’re doing but you’re getting there fast company (Neuron!). Or, you have a decided plan and a purpose, and you are getting into it with some measure of gravity and patience.

Guess which kind of business is more likely to succeed?

And guess which kind of business is more likely to be founded by engineers?

Can you see the disconnect there?

Engineering + Business FTW

What do startups need? Money. And what do business majors and new graduates need? A place to tout.

So, why not introduce the folks at engineering schools like WPI, Wentworth, or MIT to the business folks at Harvard, BU, and Tufts?

And then maybe everybody could go home happy.

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TEDxBoston!Startups, WPI Venture Forum, September 15, First Hosted Event, First Event, Tonight, Lean Into Spring, Mass Innovation, TEDxBoston, EditMe, 2010 Acquia, May 12, Lean Startup Circle, 2011, Enzee Universe Conference, Ditto Labs, countdown

TEDxBoston!

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on July 23, 2010

What’s All This About TEDxBoston?

My company is presenting there! Where? TEDxBoston!

Wanna say hi? Then swing on over to our registration page and register (it’s free).

July 27th, 6 – 9 PM, Microsoft NERD Center (1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA). 11th floor.

Or, if you like, watch the webcast, at Neuron.

Our hashtag is #NRBR.

Be there. Aloha.

What is TEDxBoston?

Here it is, about twelve and a half years later, and I realize now that I never actually said what the event is.

So, here goes.

TED Talks has an offshoot called TEDx. After the x is always the name of a city or school. Essentially, this is the venue. For here, of course, it is TEDxBoston.

However, these events are more of a grass roots nature versus regular old TED Talks.

What’s the Difference Versus TED Talks?

Well, for one, it’s the level of fame for the person talking.

Real TED Talks (the original kind, that is) are the kinds of stuff that Bill Gates does. You invite Jane Goodall to do a TED Talk, or maybe, heh, Ted Turner. But TEDx Talks are more local.

In a way, you can think of them as the difference between a regular old Google search and Google’s local search functionality. For a recipe to make pizza, you use the former. And, it’s huge! But for a local pizza delivery place, you use the latter. And now, there are a lot fewer hits. But they are right on target.

And it’s a Meme, Too!

Seriously. And a lot of that has to do with a bit of perceived snootiness.

But it is also due to the phrase, “Thank you (or thanks) for coming to my TED Talk,” being a great way to end an announcement or a statement.

So, it’s a little bit like quod erat demonstratum. Just without the fancy-shmancy Latin.

And when it comes to talking about my blog—you guessed it!

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

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More About Our First EventStartups, WPI Venture Forum, September 15, First Hosted Event, First Event, Tonight, Lean Into Spring, Mass Innovation, TEDxBoston, EditMe, 2010 Acquia, May 12, Lean Startup Circle, 2011, Enzee Universe Conference, Ditto Labs, countdown

More About Our First Event

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 12, 2010

So, How Did Our First Event Go? Be Honest.

Last night, I helped host our first event to promote Neuron Robotics. Our first idea from it was to provide considerably more notice. This is because we could have promoted it better. We could have had a listing on a good half dozen or so calendars.

It wasn’t a bad first event. Just not promoted too well.

But On a Personal Note

I also learned that the really high heels look good, but I pay for it the following day. I suppose I knew that already.

How Our First Event Really Went

My boss and I each brought a DyIO and we talked about not only it but also the Bowler Communications System (BCS). Our Development Lead, Kevin Harrington, did an excellent job explaining not only the system but also how the company was initially put together.

I think we impressed our guests. We were certainly impressed with our guests! Plus we had a great time — we just enjoy each others’ company.

Thank You!

A special thank you and shout out to the lovely Paula who joined and supported us. Thanks, Paula!

And thank you for reading. We’ll have another event soon!

With the Gift of Hindsight

About twelve and a half years later, I can honestly say that the first event was… okay. Considering that we had nearly no preparation or promotions, that is.

But, like with so many other aspects of Neuron Robotics’ brief existence, one thing stands out.

And that one thing is the opportunities we missed.

We had a chance for some local techie press. At least, to get a mention in some blogs. But… nothing.

We had a chance to sell some units. Yet again… nothing.

Again, as I have noted oh so many times before, Neuron desperately needed an adult in the room. But there was no one to be found.

And again, in retrospect, it should have been me. Ah, well.

And Another Thing

In a world full of neurodivergent folks, there was probably no one who was truly neurotypical! Maybe Paula, as I remember her. Certainly Bob’s girlfriend (who is now his lovely wife).

But in the core? Nope.

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My First Hosted Event

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 11, 2010

This Was My First Hosted Event

I suppose this would be true about anyone’s first hosted event.

I am a tad nervous.

My company is sponsoring an event tonight. It is a Meetup for Tech Crunch, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in Harvard Square. The venue is John Harvard’s Brew House on 33 Dunster Street. Grab a map, in case you want to follow along.

I have clothes picked out. And I have packed the camera. I hope the batteries work. I even saved up a bunch of calories.
Because I want very much for this to go well.

Eek!

At 8 PM, I will be taking a deep breath and plunging in. Big smile, business cards at the ready, DyIO ready to rock and roll. Only a few butterflies.

Over Twelve Years Later…

Well, things have changed considerably from my first hosted event. For one thing, Neuron Robotics is no more. But such is the way of the universe.

It is with this kind of a latter day perspective where I can see the holes in the company.

But not the holes in our strategy. Because, truly, it was—strategy? What strategy?

Yeah, we were that green.

If I Had it to Do All Over Again (the First Hosted Event and More)

I don’t think the first hosted event was the real problem. Rather, it was that the rest of how we ran the startup was.

No plan. And no one even coming up with one. It was a lot of throwing jello against a wall. And, very little of that ever stuck.

Also, there was no money person. Because even a startup with a shoestring bootstrap budget needed someone to wield a checkbook. Or, at least, to turn out their pockets and tell everyone that there was no more cash to be had.

In short, someone had to be the adult in the room.

And in retrospect, it probably should have been me.

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My New Job at Neuron Robotics …

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 4, 2010

… or, how Janet Met Bob. Back in the day, I had a job at Neuron Robotics. And it was kinda fun.

Looking for Work in All the Wrong Places

I had been looking for work for a while. The same things had been working all right, but it was time to shake things up. I was in a rut!

I received a notification of a job fair at the Microsoft Nerd Center, to be held on Tuesday, April 13th, 2010. Great!.

Except for one thing.

The subject was robotics.

So, my knowledge of the subject spanned R2D2, Lost in Space, Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Star Trek.

In short, I was about as over my head as anyone could possibly ever be.

What the Hell

But the event was free, and I figured, well, everybody needs social media marketing, right? So I decided to go anyway.

I got a haircut that morning (completely unrelated, I swear!) and prepared for the event by printing up business cards and generally doing pretty much everything but think about it. Yet onto the bus I went.

The space is interesting. It’s a two-level area, where there is a huge staircase in the middle, splitting up the lower level. Being that in a former life I was an insurance defense attorney, I always look at that big, beautiful staircase and think: someone’s gonna trip.

But I digress.

I walk in, and I am easily a good 20 – 25 years older than everyone in the room who isn’t an employer. Also, I am one of very few females. And most of the job seekers are in corners or staring at their shoes.

There are two skateboards in the room (fortunately, they are not being used — see tripping hazard, above).

God knows I do not belong.

I do not belong. Cough, wheeze.

Mild Panic Attack Ensues

But seriously, folks.

I do not belong.

Taking the Plunge Which I Did Not Expect Would Become a Job at Neuron Robotics

And that is all I can think of, but I plunge in anyway, and I talk to some people but, frankly, I can only reel off about five words before I’m done. I drop cards wherever I think I can.

And then I retreated to the sidelines, to an area where there was a large wall that showed information on all of the companies attending. I stare at the names, and I am having an existential crisis.

I do not belong.

Oh, I do not belong. Panic, slight panic, big panic.

But let’s face it.

I do not belong.

Gawd, this is not good. I look up and I see this guy standing nearby. He is, perhaps, thinking some of the same things I am; I can’t tell of course (it turned out, he more or less was). He looks at me, I look at him, and perhaps there was a flash of recognition or sympathy or commiseration because he smiles, says, “What the hell!” and sticks out his hand.

He’s Bob Breznak. He owns a robotics company.

Thank God!! And, Suddenly, a Job at Neuron Robotics

So, we chat, and I find myself becoming animated again. It is a free and easy discussion, on topic and off, and it is, above all else, easy. Hallelujah, saved from despair.

We part ways in order to mingle and network, but keep circling back. We are not there together, of course, but keep circling back anyway, you know like you do when you are at a party with a friend and comparing notes or taking a breather.

The evening ends and the next morning, I send a note. But I hear nothing, and chalk it up to experience. I continue, as always, to go to networking events.

In late April, I get my reply. So, we start emailing, and agree to meet on May 10th. Coffee okay? Sure.

I get in early, and the coffee shop is playing The Smiths. This I consider to be auspicious. Bob arrives and we again chat easily. Finally it comes down to brass tacks. Do you want to help us out? Do you want a job at Neuron Robotics?

Sure. Details are discussed over the next few weeks, and I meet the rest of the team, and we hit it off, too. We agree on a shmancy title: Director of Social Media and Public Relations.

And I think to myself:

I belong.

I belong.

… and …

I belong. And egad, I suddenly had a job at Neuron Robotics.

A Quick Look Back at My Old Job at Neuron Robotics

The Name Side of my business card!
A bad scan of my Neuron Robotics business card! Meet me and you could get a much nicer one.

We used to make stuff. Or, at least, that was the plan. The company, apparently, was sold or taken over or got its own taste of reinvention. Helfino.

Did it help me? I can’t honestly say. I came away from it with some fun stories. As in, running through the streets of Cambridge, barefoot, hunting for a place to buy batteries (my shoes were off because I was in killer heels).

Also, as a person who has worked in a startup, it gives me some street cred around not only startups but also fast-paced work and modern work.

I made friends. I still keep up with the guys. And I did a ton of networking, but that’s only semi-helpful as it’s not in the field where I want to be these days.

In retrospect, it filled what would have been a rather large gap in my work history. And, if nothing else, I made like Socrates and learned just what I didn’t know. So, I went to Quinnipiac!

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