The Journey Begins

        2018, ISSUE #1  WELCOME TO MY BLOG!  Comments welcome.

Join me in keeping great Indiana talent in Indiana.

There’s no place like home.   — Dorothy Gale (in the Wizard of Oz)

BARB’S BOOMER BLOG

MUSINGS FROM THE MILLENIAL WORLD

What makes for a good blog that people will read? Guess I’m about to find out!  As a Boomer who hates labels and generalizations about people that others want to tag with those labels, I am out on a limb here with the title and subtitle of my first blog entry.  In the dark ages (those years that begin with 19, not 20), when I started my career, I was challenged by the way women were treated, labeled and categorized.  OK, still an issue and done to death, so on to something else.  Suffice it to say that nobody speaks for “all women” because we are not all alike any more than any other labeled group is homogeneous.

As a Boomer learning to pick up new tech (new to us; something others grew up with and learned from the smart devices in hand), I was a bit of an early adopter of social media. Had to be, forging a second career after early corporate retirement a decade ago and working with college students.  Just a bit of snow in the forecast and my phone would start ringing with students wanting to know whether classes were going to be cancelled.  Enter Facebook and Twitter, primary use for Purdue College of Technology (now Purdue Polytechnic) in Anderson and Richmond to directly communicate with students, faculty, staff and others.

Experience on these two social media platforms came from personal accounts, followed not long after by an account on LinkedIn. These three personal accounts have been the foundation of my social media use since posting my first Facebook status—something on the order of “The fastest growing user group on Facebook is women in their 50’s.  Who knew I was in such a trendy demographic?”

So on to the real topic of this first issue, a bit of burying the lead. Even though I had identified blogging as something I wanted to add to the mix, and in fact had even written it as a goal or put it on a to-do list more than once (things some “experts” tell you leads to success—not for me apparently), it never happened.  I had a WordPress account, with nothing in it and I had noodled around with a few topical ideas, mostly during my drive time.  However, until today I never put pen to paper—or in this case, fingers to keyboard.

So what made the difference? If you managed to stay with me this far, here’s real topic of this first issue.  It’s accountability.  I attended a StartUp Ladies Study Hall led by Metonymy Media CEO Ryan Brock, topic—you guessed it—blogging.  Afterwards, I told him and two other friends, Darcy Lee (also of Metonymy Media) and Angie Hibner (Respire Strategy) that they were my accountability team.  But the serendipitous meeting today that really put me over the accountability edge was running into Mike McCann (Pepper Construction of Indiana).  He was mentoring a young man and I mentioned the importance of accountability in meeting your commitments and my long-delayed blog.

So to my accountability team, thank you for motivating me to do what I have been talking about for so long (I will not confess how long). Thanks to Ryan for a great session (the quality and contents of this blog do not reflect on him or his company—I am a total beginner).  Please critique me mercilessly as well as provide any suggestions for future content.  “Shut ‘er down” might be a bit harsh after my first attempt, but maybe after three or four if I don’t improve I will entertain that suggestion!

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  Mention the blog if you haven’t met me face to face so I know to accept the connection.  Thanks for getting this far, and have a great day (or night, if you are a night owl).