HoHoTO Follow Up Friday (Saturday)

I wanted to give a good shout out to the people that I met Thursday night who have already reached out, said hi, followed me back, etc. Since next Friday is Christmas Eve, I thought I would just do a Follow-up Friday and get a plug in for @HoHoTO while it can do some good.

Firstly, I want to suggest Ryan (@clickryan). I had his name float around some of the people that I follow, so I thought I should reach out. Right away we hit it off. So I expect good things from this meeting, and apparently, I give good hugs. Important information. On a Saturday morning, you can find him tweeting some of the most important lines from “The Princess Bride” except one of my favourites: “I have to tell you…I am not left handed!”

Next, someone I would call his partner in crime, Joallore (@clickflickca). I took a moment to check #HoHoTO and there was a post that the first person to come up to him with the tweet got a free drink. I could swear I was standing next to him so I enquired. Turns out, I won! See? Twitter gets you free stuff!

One of the names I saw being thrown around was Saul Colt (@saulcolt). I didn’t get a chance to talk to him, we were part of the same group at one point. Figured it warranted a little research. Seems like a really cool guy, so I’ve started following him and maybe our paths will cross again someday.

And last but not least, Ninja Spider Monkey (@kyxer). I saw his profile pic and knew we had to chat. Turns out we both do martial arts and we talked at length on the subject and he may come to check out the dojo some time. Once again, Twitter helps us connect to new people not just for marketing, but to make human connections to people that we would not necessarily have met otherwise.

Of course, thanks go out to the @HoHoTO organizers. It was truly a great event for a great cause. Make sure you catch their hangover auction on Monday when they auction off the unclaimed raffle items from the event. Monies are donated to the Daily Bread Foodbank so please tune in.

Happy Ho Ho everyone!

Joallore

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HoHoTo

I had the pleasure of attending an event called HoHoTo last night. I noticed that a number of the people that I follow on Twitter were going to be there, some I’ve met before and some I’ve been dying to meet. I’m now really starting to get the idea of social media and engaging people. Just meeting online is not enough.

One of the things that I’ve learned from Scott Stratten (@unmarketing) is that you should #FollowFriday fewer people, but with reason. I’ve got a few today, but all have good reasons. PS. I have yet to meet Scott, but it’s on my list!

Firstly, I had the pleasure of meeting April Dunford (@aprildunford) at Product Camp last year. She was one of the people who helped me understand the difference between Facebook and Twitter. Thanks to her, I am an active Twitter user. I finally got the chance to see her again last night since last year.

These skills improved over the few months with the help of someone that many of you know and love, Alex Blom (@alexblom). I met him at the next Product Camp because of his comments on Twitter. We chatted over lunch and he has become a very good friend. With his guidance, I was able to find my way to #HoHoTO last night, not because he told me to go, but because of the people that I’ve met through him and his teachings of the “finesse” of Twitter and social media. I even started writing this wonderful blog.

Through him, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and hopefully will continue to meet further these amazing people:

Joe Puopolo (@jpuopolo and @stickeryou)

Karim Kanji (@karimkanji and @wearethirdocean)

Carolyn Van (@carolynvan and @wearethirdocean) – We haven’t met yet, but turns out we graduated from the same faculty at Ryerson. Discussions will be had!

My last #FollowFriday goes out to @HoHoTo. Though the event was held last night, there will be a Hangover Auction on Monday night for all of the unclaimed prizes from the raffle. They have raised over $61,000 for the Daily Bread Foodbank so far. Let’s see if we can do better. Thanks go out to all the organizers who did a wonderful job. Because of this event, I got to go to a holiday party this year. Please follow them and show your support for the Daily Bread Foodbank, especially if you couldn’t make it last night. I had a blast!

And lastly, for all those “haters” out there, if you spent as much time helping others and positively contributing to the world for things that matter, the world would be a better place. If you don’t like it, don’t follow.

Have a wonderful holiday everyone. Peace.