Normally I would be dismayed and a little perturbed by how loud the conversations are, but I’ve become a regular and everyday these conversations are becoming more and more an expected part of my morning. I’ve yet to really engage with any of the other regulars, but I seem to be assimilating with their group none the less.

A very cute older gentleman is actually serenading the entire restaurant with his harmonica to the tune of Oh Come All Ye Faithful, and for once I’ve slowed down enough that I can appreciate the beauty in this moment. This gentleman, like the rest of the group, is so welcoming, so well-intentioned that I’m beginning to truly live and breathe what it means to experience community.

Food for thought, but would/could this Panera Breakfast Club (as I call it) be served by social media? Is there value in this space for them? I’m curious about this and I definitely don’t have the answers, so I welcome any and all thoughts.

(Panera sign reads, “Two Seeds Are Company, Three-Seed Sourdough is a Party.”)

Chris, a new friend on twitter in the Manchester area, recently blogged about how I inspired him to start blogging again (in this post). Wow it’s kind of a cool feeling that my writing, which is often times very scattered and unfocused, helped to add another voice to the blogosphere. Definitely a highlight and uplifting moment in my rather disappointing week. From reading the post I gather that Chris does, in fact, have plenty to blog about and I look forward to reading more from him in the future (quick tip – don’t blog too much about work, I learned the hard way).

As mentioned on the About Me page, I’ve been blogging since 2004 although most of that has been behind the walls of MySpace. Initially I was inspired to blog because I love to write and the instant gratification of having my words published to a captive audience (at least in my head they’re captive) was a ridiculous high, better than any drug.

The whole WordPress blog came about primarily because of my move and separation from everything I love, but I actually took the leap because I was inspired by the writings of the Web Strategist, Community Guy, and the Idea Engine man. I’ve met all three of you, currently have the pleasure of working with one of you, and look forward to more drinks with one of you in particular (hint – lemon drops were your kryptonite in Vegas). Thanks to their genius, not only do I live to blog another day (oh man I can be cheezy), but I always have insightful daily reading to look forward to. Here’s to paying it foward.

1. Open a store in Manchester, NH – okay this is purely selfish (but also for the good of New Englanders everywhere), but I’m dying without my CBTL fix.
2. Start a blog (or Twitter) – it’s so easy and there’s no reason you guys shouldn’t be doing this now. You’ve got an amazing product that you should be talking about in the blogosphere. Let loyal customers like me in on the scoop. When can I expect the next great beverage from CBTL? Tell me why a certain drink (ie Moraccan Mint tea latte) is no longer available. Share pictures (start a flickr account?) from your expeditions to Costa Rica in search of the perfect bean or Sri Lanka for those fabulous tea leafs. Let me comment back and tell you about my CBTL experiences. Start a contest and award the winner with a fabulous trip to experience the coffee harvesting process; you do this for team members on occasion…why not loyal customers? (Twitter would be cool for the celeb factor alone. I’ve seen celebrities at CBTL in LA and I know others have too. Ask followers to tweet every time they see a celebrity drinking CBTL and where. It’s like CBTL guerilla paparazzi!)
3. Let your GM’s blog too! They’ve got stories to tell and they’re authentic so let them get the word out for you.
4. Use the blog to solicit engaged customers and start a community CBTL development team. I know there is an extensive product development cycle and I know that CBTL allows team members to sumbit ideas for new drinks, so why not open this up a bit. Put out a call to action online. Ask customers to contact you (provide an easy way – blog comments, direct email etc) if they are interested in influencing the direction of new products. Invite the most enthusiastic (dedicated to commit to the work) to join a private group (you can use a wiki, ning sonet, basecamp, anything works). Give them projects based on new products. Let me them create the next holiday beverage or marketing campaign. Inspire them to blog about their experiences behind the scenes (although you can take the NDA approach so they don’t let the cat out of the bag too early). There’s so much potential here. If only…
5. Give me a widget or a badge. I want something that I can take with me to Facebook, MySpace, or keep here at my blog. I want my friends to know what my favorite drink is (and maybe what celebrity drinks it too?). Plus any widget that’s created will result in more traffic to your site and more brand awareness. Did you know that most New Englanders have no clue about CBTL? So where do you think they’re going to get coffee when they go to Vegas or Cali?
6. Free wifi at every location – do it. I go to Panera everyday simply because they have free wifi. Yes, I make it a point to get coffee at Starbucks too (only because there is no CBTL), but I spend time and money at Panera. Plus you should be encouraging your customers to use the internet (for free). It’s good karma.

These of course are the baby steps. Any more thinking will come at a cost. I have another great idea about connecting the customer community, but I’ll keep that to myself for awhile (until I get bored anyway). Of course, if you’re a Social Media or Community Consultant I’ve just found your next lead. Go get ‘em!

As a reader of this blog, you agree to the following Terms and Conditions of Use:

1. The Almighty creator of this blog, Jennifer, heretofore referred to as ‘the Almighty’, wishes you a joyous reading experience and grants you the ability to view content at your discretion, as referred to in policy #6.
2. The Almighty will, in every manner possible, represent the situations she describes in the truest and yet most colorful light possible.
3. You, the reader, recognize that all ideas, notions, and concepts expressed in this blog are the machinations of my own personal and sometimes retarded mind and do not represent the views or interests of the company that I work for or the platform that I blog on.
4. You, the reader, agree to accept everything the Almighty writes to be true unless you believe it to be untrue. If you disagree with the Almighty, you are required under these Terms and Conditions to express your malcontent in the comments portion of this blog or send the Almighty a direct email.
5. You, the reader, acknowledge that the Almighty is a frivolous and sometimes goofy blogger and that she will share photos, videos, and things from her personal life as a means of self-expression. You, the reader, understand that this asset sharing is done so gratuitously with the hopes that you share in the personal joy that she experienced in the asset creation process and point her in the direction of the reader’s asset collection, free of charge.
6. You, the reader, upon arrival to contentdynasty.com, recognize that the Almighty’s openness and freedom of expression is expressly granted under these Terms and Conditions and that they should in no way be taken out of context, misrepresented, or taken personally. If her freedom of expression offends the reader, the Almighty grants the Reader the ability to leave the site at any time at the reader’s sole discretion.
7. You, the reader, assert that you are of an appropriate age to view this content.
8. You, the reader, may encounter blog entries that are password protected and can and should email the Almighty for the password at jvangrove at gmail dot com.

Phew. That’s it. But this is a work in progress. If you feel that I have left anything out please bring these matters to my attention immediately.

Letting go of preconceived notions opens up new opportunities for unimaginably rewarding experiences.

Last night Angie and I, returning via monorail to our hotel, completely let go of social mores and sang very audibly to songs on my iPod. It had to be one of the more hilarious experiences in my life. People were staring. People thought we were drunk and/or crazy. People were a little bit jealous of our spontaneity. See below:

This morning I was reminded of how I use this same methodology when it comes to web strategy, and it works. I throw out preconceived web restrictions to let my brain flow creatively. I let go and let people laugh at me, but in the end I always find some brilliant idea that is new and exciting. Of course the realities and restrictions trickle back in, in life (as with my monorail musical debut) it’s not practical to let loose all the time, but those moments of uninhibited freedom are worth any amount of criticism.

Who knew that Vegas could add value to my already convoluted thought process.

IT hates me because:

1. I don’t accept what they tell me as fact to be factual. I also don’t stop when they tell me something can’t be done.
2. I ask a TON of questions. To point #1, I’m never satisfied with “that’s the way we do things here” because I need to know the why behind the statement.
3. I want to change things and that scares them. They don’t want to be given more work, let alone new technologies they have to learn.
4. People like me and respect me. This includes my boss, their boss and (almost) everyone else in between. This respect means that my projects take priority on occasion.

IT shows their hate for me by (no it’s not all in my head):

1. Not responding to my voicemails or emails in a timely manner.
2. Sending almost noticeably condescending email responses to my boss and others not directly involved in the project.
3. Going to my boss behind my back and questioning why I get to attend certain meetings or make certain decisions (thankfully my boss is in my corner and keeps me abreast of these things).
4. Just plain ignoring me.
5. Trying to upstage me in meetings (which isn’t so bad because I’m usually given the opportunity to counter).

A few friends in the community biz have said that I must be doing something right if I have IT frustrated with me. I truly wish this wasn’t the case. Realistically, I know none of this is personal and that each of us have our own motivating factors for making and standing by decisions (on a personal level I actually like the IT guys and a few might like me too). The problem isn’t personal, it’s business, which means I’ll continue to push for what I know to be right and demonstrate success at every point possible.

My little message came in the form of a vegetable; an item so simple to consume all that is required is that I wash it before I eat it. This vegetable also happens to be extremely nourishing and if I’m not mistaken good for eyesight. And while enjoying this almost decadent variety of vegetable something extraordinarily simple occurred to me; why do I seek to complicate my diet regimen by introducing chemically enhanced treats that weigh me down? Obvious answer: they taste good, but truth be told I don’t need those things to function let alone be happy.

In taking my vegetable vision and applying that to the realm of communities, I surmised the following:

1. Real communities exist because they are organic in nature. They come from something real, an intangible and innate quality within all of us defined by our desire to connect with something more than just ourselves.

2. Man has made tools to facilitate the connection of individuals within communities, but the simple fact remains that the most engaging online communities are extensions of off-line communities. Even Facebook began as an online extension of an off-line collegiate milieu. (I’m certainly not the first to iterate this, I like this older post from ‘05 that speaks to the socialization of the web)

3. Holism, the theory that the parts of any whole cannot exist and cannot be understood except in their relation to the whole; “holism holds that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts;” it’s almost a creed for community. I’m not a theologist or philosopher by any means, but I’m struck by the simple and direct correlation here. A community as a whole is far greater than the sum of its individual participants.

4. Add your own observations.

On that note, let’s all just KISS (keep it simple stupid).