Comedy is not Ray’s full time profession but along with public speaking, it is one of his competencies and something he enjoys doing.

This is the story, as Ray explained to me, of how the official version of The Man Song video was recently made. The video stars the song’s creator, Sean Morey, and is directed and produced by my husband, Ray Gordon.

Sean Morey is an accomplished comedian who hails from the small town of Longport, New Jersey. After starting as a performer on the streets of Boston, he later moved to Los Angeles and saw his career take off. Playing the banjo and guitar, he has written many funny original songs that have been played on radio stations across the U.S.A.

Ray Gordon was a classmate of Sean’s at Atlantic City High School. They were among the very few students who hailed from the small town of Longport (population: 600 back then), which must have been a key factor in their comedic development. They were both on the school’s excellent cross-country team, and spent many hours keeping their teammates loose with some funny stories, good-natured ribbing and general frivolity.

Upon graduation, they parted ways – Ray going to school in NYC and Sean setting off for Boston. After some time performer in Boston, Sean moved to Los Angeles and saw his comedic career take off. Sean has appeared on the Tonight Show many times, and has a number of other TV appearances to his credit. He is well-known for his live stand-up routines as well as his musical numbers. Playing the banjo and guitar, Sean has written and performed many funny original songs that have been popular on radio stations across the U.S.A.

Ray took a more roundabout route as a comedian. After work, he’d perform in small events from time to time, often using visual images he created to present his material. He also taught graduate school for 17 years, further honing his comedy skills… or so he says. Ray moved to Japan in 1994, and eventually became a regular stand-up comedian at the Tokyo Comedy Store. He was featured in the 1999 GQ Comedy Issue in an article about Japan called The Toughest Room in Show Biz.

Ray Gordon and Sean Morey at Atlantic City High School Reunion August 2011

Ray and Sean re-connected a couple years back, and often got together to trade one-liners and work on song lyrics. At one point, their conversation came around to Ray’s work in producing videos, and how they could collaborate on a project. It turns out that Sean wanted to make his own authorized live action music video of Sean’s most famous song, The Man Song. In the first few years after it’s release, The Man Song was one of the most widely played comedy songs on radio. Others had taken the original audio track produced with a live audience and posted various versions of the song to YouTube, resulting in millions of views. One of those versions was released by the radio show “Bob and Tom” where he was a frequent guest. There were lyrics and there was both a puppet and a cartoon with a moving mouth but no one had ever attempted live action. Sean thought the time had come for him to “reclaim” his own song on video.

Ray worked with Sean in outlining each verse, determining the options for sight gags to punctuate each line, and storyboarding each scene. Once all the sight gags had been finalized, they searched for a venue to film the video. His sister offered her home in Los Angeles, which offered the perfect combination of quiet environment, ample indoor rooms and a nice outdoor area.

Ray Gordon

Because it was a family home, the entire shoot had to be completed in one day. The actresses arrived with their wardrobe and Ray set up the cameras and lighting starting in the morning, and shooting commenced. After a whirlwind of activity and a number of scene and wardrobe changes, by 4PM the shoot was complete.

Editing included scenes from multiple cameras and syncing the action to the actual soundtrack of the song as it appears on Sean’s comedy CD. Once complete, the video was posted to YouTube on December 19th, 2011.

What we found amazing was the reaction of people to the video. So many friends commented that it was one of their favorite comedy songs, and that they remember hearing it often on the radio. We found that The Man Song was also well known on Kauai, having been featured by the very popular local radio personality, Ron Wiley.

Sean’s album He’s The Man includes The Man Song and 23 more of his comedic recordings.

The Man Song Lyrics by Sean Morey

Ladies and gentleman, The Man Song!

He’s the man. He’s the man.

I don’t take no crap from anybody else…
but you
I wear the pants around here…
when I finish with your laundry

Cause I’m a guy you don’t wanna fight…
when I say “jump”, you say “yeah right”
Cause I’m the man of this house…
until you get home

He’s the man. He’s the man.

When I say goes around here…
right out the window
But I don’t wanna hear a lot of whining…
so I’ll shut up

The sooner you learn who’s boss around here…
the sooner you can give me my orders, dear
Cause I’m head honcho around here…
but it’s all in my head

He’s the man. He’s the man.

And I can have sex anytime…
that you want
Cause I’m a man who has needs…
but they’re not that important

And don’t expect any flowers from me…
Cause if I’m not mistaken, you prefer jewelry
I’m the king of my castle…
when you’re not around

He’s the man. He’s the man.

And I’ll drink and watch sports…
whenever I wanna get in trouble
And I’ll come home, when I’m good and ready…
to sleep on the couch

Cause a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do…
and I’m gonna do what you tell me to
Because I’m top dog around here…
but I’ve been neutered

He’s the man. He’s the man!

You the man!

*****************************************

Is this your first introduction to The Man Song or does it spark a pleasant memory? Perhaps you have bought the CD which includes this and other Sean Morey hits. Would love to hear your stories about the The Man Song or The Man or The Woman in your life.

We are very pleased to be holding this gathering at the Roger Smith Hotel, known for hosting social media in New York City. John Knowles @pancity @RSHotel, and Martha Rodriguez who is in charge of events at the hotel, have been very helpful.

Where:
Lily’s at the bar
Roger Smith Hotel
501 Lexington Ave 10017
at 47th
212-339-2064

When:
Friday Dec 2nd, 7PM – 9PM+

#NYCTweetUp

My NYC trip began with the Digital Hollywood conference and was extended to attend to local family matters. The advantage of that, more chances to reconnect with friends and meet people in NYC including those that I have known on-line. I also got very lucky with many warm and beautiful days during my stay.

I originally met several of the tweetup attendees at Blogger Social 2008. Rohit Bhargava cleverly staged a book interview contest as well as a brain storming session for the attending bloggers attend the social. I participated in the contest and was inspired to write about women, men and competition.

TweetUp Attendees:
Cathleen Rittereiser @CathleenRitt, Linda Bernstein @WordWhacker, BL Ochman @WhatsNext, @BethGrangerSays, Marshall Sponder @WebMetricsGuru, @RicDragon, @RoniWeiss, Bob Knorpp @TheBeanCast, @AnthonyQuintano, John Knowles @PanCity @RSHotel, Chris Kieff @CKieff, Kathryn Jones, Karen Lund @Karen5Lund and Cecilia Pineda Feret @cecip.

Not at our tweetup but also so glad to see @Caitlin_Burns, @Ty-Sullivan and Harrison Kratz @PRKratz this trip.

NYC is an easy reach from Philly, Boston, Washington DC and other close by hubs, so I gave a shout-out to friends in nearby towns including: @LewisPoretz, @ShashiB, @RohitBhargava, @ClaudiaBia, @NewMediaJim, @ChrisBrogan, Laura Fitton @Pistachio, @Josepf.

Thank you for letting me know you can’t make it to the tweetup with such kindness: @GregVerdino @SteveGarfield @SueanneShirzay @DebNg @DougMeacham @PaulBiedermann

Thank you to Ty Sullivan for an assist in getting the news circulated at #USGuys and to the #USGuys for wanting to come.

Central Park Lake Reflections by Ray Gordon iPhone Photo Nov 2011

REPORT POST-PARTY:
Many reports of having a great time. Loved the conversations I was able to have. Smart tweeps. I am a recent Instagram enthusiast and throughly enjoyed the sharing of tips and pics with Anthony and Bob. We “occupied” Lily’s till closing spreading out around the bar. Sadly, I didn’t have my Nikon with me … especially since there was “great hair” to be captured. iPhone photos are great which is why Instagram is so much fun but phone photos of people in the dark of a bar are usually but a suggestion. They work sometimes for close-ups of food but not that well for people.

Bacon!

I insisted that Marshall Sponder bring out his book recently published by McGraw Hill to show: Social Media Analytics. Full of case studies and Marshall’s intelligence.

Social Media Analytics by Marshall Sponder

We had a fun demonstration of bringing new followers to the worthy @JennyBoardman with an Anthony Quintano bump. I snapped the 1,000 follower point with a screen save on my Iphone.

Anthony Quintano Bump at Work on Jenny Boardman Following to 1,000

Some of us went to the Community Manager MeetUp – Social Media for Social Good – at the Wired Holiday Store in Times Square on the way over. We changed the time of the meetup to 7PM to accommodate that schedule.

Harrison Kratz Presenting for TweetDrive at Community Manager Social Media for Social Good CMMeetUp

All photos are by Ray Gordon. There is a public album with more photos on Facebook, which should be accessible even if you aren’t a Facebook user.

Linda Sherman with Mayor Carvalho and Race Prize

There were four races: 5K, 10K, 10 mile and the 1K keiki (children’s) race. This is the article I wrote on Our Best of Kauai about this race and the Paddle Fest Koloa Plantations Days events that Kukui’ula Outrigger Club is hosting.

Official race results provided by JTL Timing:
Tri Kauai 5K
Tri Kauai 10K
Tri Kauai 10 mile
Tri Kauai 1K

If you want to stay fit, living in a place where it is easy to get exercise outdoors is a great start. Kauai also has the advantage of very pure air. I make my living primarily at my computer so I still need to discipline myself to make time for daily exercise. I have some more tips about fitness for computer workers on Boomer Tech Talk.

Koloa Plantation Days Fun Run 5K Race Start

Fran McDonald Managed Family Fun Run for Kukui'ula Outrigger Club

Sprinting for the Finish

Fellow Paddler Melissa Burovac and I Before the Races Started - Melissa Won 2nd Place in Her Age Group for 10 Mile Race

Awards for the 50 - 59 Women Race Winners

Stretching

Fran McDonald Showing Race Awards

I think I was the only person running today in tennis shoes rather than running shoes. Maybe I’ll break down and buy a pair of running shoes. What’s your exercise of choice these days?

Public Speaking Training

I love public speaking. I began doing it during my 20 years as an executive in Japan. Early on, I took advantage of participating in Toast Masters at the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ). That was for public speaking in English. I threw myself into an intensive series called Hanishikata Kyoshitsu (Way of Speaking Classroom) where 500 Japanese and one blond woman practiced making speeches in front of each other in Japanese. The leader did a great job of pounding into us to be specific rather than the using the vague references that come so naturally with the deferential Japanese language. I also want to acknowledge an amazing course with Werner Erhard that I took in the late 80’s called Presentation, Negotiation and Enrollment. My key take-away from Werner was to “be with the people.” My Courage Group partner Ray Gordon was a presentation skills trainer for the American Management Association and received certification to train GE personnel, so I was able to learn a lot from him as well.

I enjoy attending conferences and absorbing knowledge from experts in their fields. I also learn about how to moderate and present by watching what makes other presentations effective. Through my company, The Courage Group, I teach a course on presentation skills that utilizes video feedback in both English and Japanese.

Top Ten Public Speaking Tips

1. Never moderate a panel or speak in public without preparing
2. Create a map of important points you want to cover
3. Never read a speech nor an introduction
4. Use a computer screen to glance at your slides so that you are looking towards your audience
5. Tell stories that allow the audience to visualize what you are talking about
6. Use slides that appeal to the “right brain” of your audience
7. Be with your audience, check their faces – are they getting it?
8. Breathe
9.Time your presentation. Allow no less than 15 minutes for questions
10.Take advantage of attending the conference you are speaking at

How to Moderate a Dynamic Panel

1. To gauge who is in the audience, allow the panel to participate in deciding what questions to ask
2. Interview each panelist separately, to understand their strengths so that you can make each shine
3. During interviews, create maps of important points and questions to cover and share with the panel
4. Make sure each panelist commits to meeting as a group before the panel, preferably in person
5. Listen. Be ready to lead where the discussion is going
6. Ensure that the panel is delivering concrete, actionable information

Linda Sherman Speaking Engagements

This has been an enjoyable month for being on stage. I started off May 5th moderating a panel called the Facebook Factor for Digital Hollywood at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Los Angeles.

May 21st I spoke twice at SheCon, a new conference hosted by Julie Wohlberg in Miami. I spoke by myself for a session called Interactive Social Media Audit, and I participated in a panel on PR.

May 24th I spoke at BlogWorld Expo in New York City on How to Write for and Engage the 50+ Online Marketplace.

Women In Business Radio Interview with Michele Price

Michele Price will interview me on her radio show Women In Business Radio on Monday June 6th at 2PM ET. There will be an archive of the show but you can participate live by sending your questions on Twitter. The hash tag for the show is #WIBRadio. Michele Price’s Twitter handle is @ProsperityGal. Mine is @LindaSherman. You can listen on your computer or on your mobile phone at 347-857-4551.

Women in Business Radio spotlights women in business each week, discussing what has brought them to where they are today for their business VS just what they do IN their business.

Public speaking is likely to come up in our discussion.

Speak Chat on Twitter Mondays 9PM ET

Michele hosts a Twitter chat called Speak Chat on Mondays at 9PM EST.
Michele’s vision for Speak Chat is to create a community of individuals and companies who revolve around the professional speaking industry including speakers, authors, event planners, PR professionals, speaker bureaus, publishers, conferences,  vendors of the industry i.e. video, sound, product productions.

Michele and I met on Twitter and have most recently been interacting on a small private Facebook group for women who are recognized as public speakers.

Do you have any additional speaking tips to share?

Manage Up
It is easy to give priority to local concerns immediately in front of us. I cared intensely about my people and creating an environment where they could be successful. However, headquarters is headquarters, they must be educated, persuaded and informed. As in any management situation, the boss should not get surprises.

Educate Headquarters
Don’t protect executives when they visit your country. Be brave and show them their worst nightmare of your competitor hitting a home run. Take them to places where your real customers shop and dine. In the case of Japan, quality control is often an issue because the standards that are acceptable in the home market, are below the standards required by Japanese retailers. I went to great lengths to make this point. For one company I worked for, I created a video to be shown to the production team at headquarters, where I interviewed my CEO colleagues on the extraordinary levels of quality they needed to deliver to Japanese consumers to be successful.

Learn the Local Language
It’s worth it. Don’t believe the stories that you can’t learn a language after 30. I did. It should be obvious that being able to talk directly to your staff, customers and vendors is much more effective than going through a translator. After I was able to conduct business verbally, I decided to block out my Sundays to learn how to read Japanese. There were many benefits including being able to walk through an office and know what was going on.

Abide by the Local Culture Within Reason
If you are not a local national, don’t try to make yourself into a bad copy of one. It is better to keep a balance of what you are able to contribute with a foreign view and a good understanding of the local culture.

Walk Around Management Even More Essential
Don’t hide in your office. I spent time with each of my teams. I scheduled some of my time so that I could have lunch with groups of customer service team members and spend days in the field with sales reps. It made a huge difference in my ability to understand our market. Obviously, it also demonstrates that each team’s contribution to the organization is important.

Mentoring Women Managers in Japan
Foreign companies have an advantage in attracting female employees in Japan because women know that they have more opportunities there. They need more support than getting in the door. Many Japanese women are so infused with humility that it gets in their way in taking a stand when they need to.

Managing as a Woman in Japan
In my case, being fluent in Japanese and knowing the marketplace made a huge difference in my acceptance. They kind of forgot I was a woman most of the time.
Don’t sweat the small stuff. If you are from America, you have been taught to be politically correct and expect to be treated as such. Many countries are not on that page. Expect what is reasonable for the culture you are in. Your job carries the authority and responsibility designated to it. You can expect and demand appropriate respect for that role.

This post was inspired by by my friends on a twitter group called #usguys on the topic: Leadership Lessons You Didn’t Learn in School or From a Book. You can find other blogs on leadership and social media on this #usblogs page.

The Twitter community often demonstrates social good in bursts of activity. I got started on Twitter December 24, 2007 and in my recollection, it began with Susan Reynolds’ cancer research campaign Boobs on Ice, publicized each Friday with avatars dressed with frozen peas.

In this 5 minute video, you will see five Twitter leaders talking about their Shared Experiences.

@Percival Sean Percival: Supporting cancer research through the Blame Drews Cancer meme across Twitter and helping to create digital immortality for Wm Marc Salsberry‘s brother, Robert on lalawag.

@Pistachio Laura Fitton co-authored “Twitter for Dummies” and founded OneForty.com: the first 9/11 anniversary that I was on Twitter – the story sharing and intense human contact, “twitter really overcomes isolation”

@DoctorParadox Barb Dybwad, Senior Editor at Mashable.com, also blogs at Geeked.org : Sharing the elation of Obama’s inauguration event with people around the world, people I know were in the room with me, even though I was alone.

@Chamillionaire Grammy Award winning successful entrepreneur: Bringing his fans with him into special experiences, like sitting front row at the VMA’s (Video Music Awards) with photos and descriptions.

@HeatherMeeker Director of Marketing at Pelago, makers of Whrrl: We can get the pulse of a conference through hash tags like #sxsw to find each other, know the best place to be at that moment, hear about the best parties.

Shared Twitter Experience. Interview by Linda Sherman, Video by Ray Gordon 5 minute compilation. Filmed during #140tc by the Parnassus Group Los Angeles Sept 22, 2009.

Twitter is about being connected, about passing it forward, and about sharing experience right now. While allowing us to build networks for our businesses, it also fulfills a very human desire.

In fact, there are many songs reflecting our desire to be connected and our acknowledgment that ‘We are One’. For example, ‘All in This Together’ from High School Musical became so popular that it earned a lampoon on South Park.

Brian Solis: “The Social Economy is rich in collaboration and friendship. We are defining a new era of society and how we ultimately communicate with one another.”

Chris Brogan: keynote speech talks about Paying it Forward at BlogWorld October 2009.

What is your Shared Experience on Twitter? #sharedexperience

Basic Twitter Tips from Leading Twitterati Women. Interview by Linda Sherman, Video by Ray Gordon Filmed at 140 The Twitter Conference Los Angeles, 140tc, Sept 22 at Skirball Cultural Center.

Basic Twitter Tips from Leading Twitterati Men.

The illustrious group of 11, in order of appearance on the two videos:

@Pistachio Laura Fitton co-authored “Twitter for Dummies” and recently founded OneForty.com.
Be useful to others, serve. Be natural. Don’t make it all about you. Share, be entertaining or kind.

@MariSmith Mari is described by Fast Company as the “Pied Piper of Facebook”.
Pick a memorable user name, customize your Twitter page. Especially if you are a business: know your audience, listen first.

@AlexiaTsotsis Alexia is Web/Tech Editor for SFWeekly and contributor to the Huffington Post (Alexia was tech/lifestyle reporter with LAWeekly when this was filmed)
What matters is that you are talking to others, don’t worry about how many people are following you.

@DoctorParadox Barb Dybwad, Senior Editor at Mashable.com, also blogs at Geeked.org
One of the most powerful things about Twitter is connecting with people. If you can share it with people you already know, you’re closer to the “aha moment” when you get what Twitter is about.

@AVFlox Popular relationships columnist AV’s personal blog
Ignore the question “what are you doing.” Tell us what you think is going to be valuable to us. Don’t have conversations on Twitter unless it is relevant to a topic you were discussing that you think is relevant to a majority of your audience. It’s not a chat room. Don’t tweet back and forth “LOL, hahaha, what did you do today?” There is the DM (private message) system for that, use it.

@HeatherMeeker Director of Marketing at Pelago
Send an email to all your friends, give them your Twitter handle and find out if they are on Twitter and add them. Go to WeFollow and add yourself to five categories you’d like to be found on. Find your voice on Twitter, know your focus and goal.

@JulieSpira cyber dating expert, radio show host and author, The Perils of Cyber Dating
Be consistent, know what your brand and message is, support other people in the same line of business you are in, spread the Twitter love.

@Percival Founder of LalaWag, Sean helps companies build compelling online and mobile experiences.
Twitter is story telling. If you are a person or a brand, the story will be different. But you want to move emotions. Paint a whole picture for them whether it is your product or yourself. Don’t just be a marketing vehicle or a “what am I doing” vehicle. Don’t look at the follower number as a metric for success. Quality not quantity. Focus on people that are targetted to you. If you are into surfing, you should have a following of people who are into surfing. A highly targetted following is the key to success.

@Chamillionaire Grammy Award winning successful entrepreneur
Know the reason you want to be on Twitter. Talk to your audience on a daily basis. Be authentic. Treat twitter like those are real people out there. Have fun. People like interesting people. You can influence someone’s day in 140 characters. Understand the power you have.

@adnys Currently Digital Marketing Manager for Red Bull. At the time of the interview, Andrew was Senior Producer Social and Emerging Media at the LA Times where they sustain this array of Twitter accounts.
Jump in slowly. Don’t worry about following too many people. Follow people that you really want to hear from. Experiment. Ask your friends if you don’t understand something.

@KevinWinston founder of DigitalLA
Don’t blast one way. Engage people, get the dialogue going. Retweet. Talk about good things that happen. It’s one thing to express yourself but don’t be a chronic complainer. Tweet the good things. Be well-rounded in your tweets.

You can find full interviews with each of these pros at the Courage Group Courage Group YouTube Channel or Blip.tv channel.

Linda Sherman’s Tips For Getting Started on Twitter – Part One

1. Choose a Twitter Handle:
Make it as short as possible and easy to remember.
Write a bio in 160 characters or less
Include a website link and an image, preferably of your face, so that we know who you are.
If you are a business, you can use your business image, it is nice to include the name of the person tweeting.

2. Conversation on Twitter
You interact with others on Twitter with:
@name This is called “reply” or “mention”
You can send @name messages even if someone is not following you yet.
D name This is a direct tweet or DM. You can only send DM’s to people who follow you

3. RT Retweet. The pattern for this is RT @name: their tweet. You can put a comment before or after their tweet. If it is after, be sure to show where your comment begins.
If the person you want to RT has not left enough space for an RT, you will need to take time to abbreviate or delete some words.
Lesson Learned: Keep your tweets short enough to easily RT.
Your @username is part of the tweet if someone RT’s you, that’s why shorter user names are better.
Via @name With via, you are paraphrasing their tweet. Put the via at the end of the tweet.
An RT is a gift. It enhances the twitter reputation of the person you RT. It also carries their message to your followers.

4. Following Back
Your are not obligated to follow back everyone who follows you. You can select.
Here are some typical criteria I use:
Unless you are a newspaper or important information source, I don’t follow one way blasting twitter streams. I look for:
- @’s in your stream to show you are in conversation.
- If you have put up an avatar and profile
- I like to see the name of an individual. I will forgive this if you are a particular customer service source that I need.
- That you are not obviously just about massing followers
If you are following for a reason, send a message @username. Apologies that it is public unlike the personal message available with the Facebook Friend request – but it definitely works. Or comment on the person’s blog.

4. Who to Follow
There are various Twitter directories, as well as Twitter search, that let you find others who tweet about categories of interest to you. You may also find people of interest in conversation with twitterers you already follow.

5. What Not to Tweet
Keep in mind that everything you tweet may get indexed by Google and is never erased from the internet. Personally, I generally avoid tweeting about politics and religion (although many people like to do this and I am not telling you not to). I am not snarky nor mean. I don’t find it necessary to make negative comments about individuals although I will complain if a service provider is messing up.

6. What to Tweet
Be authentic and conversational. At the same time, some of your tweets can include keywords that you want associated with your username. Every tweet should not be a link to your website but some can be. Include a phrase that will make us want to look at your website to learn more. Don’t just say, “I just posted link”

7. Twitter Behavior
Your tweet is a micro blog in 140 characters.
Very well covered in the videos here included with this post. Contribute value. Interact.

8. #FollowFriday #FF
This custom was started by @Micah. Each Friday you will see people you follow listing others they recommend that you follow. It is difficult but be selective. You can catch someone different next week. Some people have taken to saying something about each person they recommend. Most say something about the group. If I see someone doing pages of #FollowFriday, I discount the value and assume it is just bait to follow or #FF them.

9. #Hash
Putting a hash, and having an agreed phrase with the hash, allows Twitter users to find certain topics, conference names and other shared topics on Twitter. You can search on words without a # but the # convention encourages us to use the same shared word making it easier to find.

10. Twitter as News
Twitter is a great news source. Use twitter search or note “trending topics”.

I recently shouted out a list of who I hoped would show up at the August 27, Digital LA poolside event. I tweeted a page’s worth of twitter names of outstanding people I’ve met at various tech/entertainment industry related networking events in LA. As usual, I included as many women as I could think of. It was already a nice list, but it inspired me to want to know more about who the Los Angeles based movers and shakers on Twitter are.

If you have a local business or just want to build your local network, you need to geographically slice the global world of social media.

Depending on your objective for building a network, anyone in your area may be a candidate. But most people have particular criteria.

If you are looking for influence, finding influential tweeters in your city is a good place to start. For me, anyone worth following on Twitter lists their name in their bio. Once you have identified a full name, you can also reach out to their other on-line points like Facebook.

Recently, Mashable published a good list of services that support local search. None of them are perfect – but after checking each one out, I found I liked Twitter Grader best because it measures well beyond number of followers.

Twitter Grader’s Dharmesh Shah responded to Mayank Gupta’s request to clarify their grading system. “We look at things like the number of followers, the power of those followers, the number of friends, volume of tweets, degree of engagement with other users.”

September 9, 2009

It is worth checking national listings on Twitter Grader because some people that you see at local events all the time, don’t show up on city lists because they don’t include the word “Los Angeles” in their bio or location. Key word searches can be used to hone in on your particular interests.

Twitterholic is also useful. They rank only by followers, but they do show number of updates to help you with your own evaluation and you can get a list of 1,000 Twitterati for Los Angeles.

If you are interested in Twitter influence ratings, you should also be aware of Twinfluence and the Web Ecology Project.

Twitter directory WeFollow has potential to be used for geographic selection combined with interests. They have added location as an automatic category. Click on “info” and you can manually check the self-selected categories. But other than number of followers, no other levels of activities are listed.

WeFollow Los Angeles September 9, 2009

No twitter analytic tool or directory supersedes your judgment. If you are doing this right, you are actually looking at the Twitter stream itself before following.

There are a few on-line communities built specifically to serve the local community. For instance if you want to reach successful, active unmarried people living in Los Angeles – you can go straight to SingularCity or their fans on Facebook.

The best network is not just on-line. Opportunities to balance a tech/entertainment network with IRL (in real life) relationship building right here in Los Angeles has been improving in both quality and quantity over the past year. Here’s a list of upcoming events that I hope will be useful for you. It’s tech/entertainment centric but I threw in the 27th Annual American Wine and Food Festival October 2 – October 4 because I think you should know about that too.

August 27, 2009 DigitalLA @ W Hotel Poolside Photo by Wm Marc Salsberry

This event list was updated September 11 to include what should be a fabulous conference September 22-23 at Skirball Cultural Center, 140 | The Twitter Conference LA. Check out their speaker list. 140 The Twitter Conference conference launched March 8th, holding their first event in Mountain View in May.

Reel Ladies Producers Corner, September 10
Word Camp LA, LMU Campus, Playa Del Rey, September 12
Blogger Cocktails, Digital LA and WordCamp LA , Custom Hotel poolside, September 12
LA Twestival, Level 3 at Hollywood & Highland, September 13
LA Tweetah Tweetup .02, Maison 140, Beverly Hills, September 14
Tech Supper Club, BlankSpaces, September 15
WITI, September 15
Digital LA Characters Go Digital , WGA, September 16
DealMaker Media LA, Rustic Canyon Partners, West LA, September 17
MindShare LA, Downtown, September 17
Media Leaders, Ritz Carlton Marina Del Rey, Sept 19
“5″ Screening and Cocktails, Bungalow Club, September 21
140 | The Twitter Conference LA #140tc, Skirball, September 22 – September 23
Social Media Club LA, BlankSpaces, September 22
LAVA VC Speed Dating, ICON Aircraft, September 23
New Media Vault, Downtown, September 24
Girls in Tech LA, Fox Santa Monica, September 28
Docstoc Startups Uncensored, Santa Monica Public Library, September 29
Digital LA – Movie Marketing Panel, Fox Lot, Zanuck Theater, September 29
CloudCamp LA, Downtown, September 30
DigitalLA Digital Drinks, Roosevelt Hotel, September 30
ThinkLA, October 1
27th Annual American Wine and Food Festival, October 2 – October 4
Hollywood 2.0, October 9
Digital Hollywood Lowe’s Santa Monica Hotel, October 19 – 22
140 Characters Conference LA #140conf, October 27 – 28, Kodak Theatre

These on-line tech calendars also pick up some smaller regularly scheduled tech/entertainment related events: SoCal Tech, Tech Zulu, Mixergy

Los Angeles deserves to be strongly represented at any national or international conference. Naturally, presenters should be not just socially influential but powerful speakers. Those who are selecting speakers or just a “cast of characters” should expect a wealth of possibilities.

I was grateful for the LA Times response and accompanying comments from readers. GrandpaG’s was one of my favorites:

I just finished reading the Time article and was incensed at both the premise and the failure to recognize that any endeavor, weight loss, finances, relationships or career, requires at least a modicum of self control. Time has for years published articles absolving fat people of responsibility for their condition. Time has variously attributed obesity to genetics, brain cells, food processors and now exercise? Weight loss is a simple mathematical formula, regardless of how it may be more difficult for some to achieve than others. Calories in vs. calories out.

August 22, 2009

A major point of the Time Magazine article is that the benefits of exercise are undone by people rewarding themselves with high calorie treats. If this is true for a significant number of people, it is a sad state of affairs.

I do some kind of exercise every day. There is no reason to be starving before you exercise. I have never found exercise itself to make me hungry. I enjoy exercising because it makes me feel good. I’m sure there is some tipping point to getting started in this direction but I am confident it is worth it.

I frequently get asked how I stay fit. My regime is fairly simple, and I do not feel in the least bit deprived. I am never hungry, I am rarely sick and I generally feel great.

1. Lots of omega 3 rich mackerel, salmon, black cod and tuna (not from a can) – fabulous for your skin!
2. Secondarily tofu and turkey
3. Lots of vegetables (moderate legumes and corn), baked yams are OK
4. Brown rice
5. Lots of water
6. Nothing white: bread, rice, potatoes, mayonnaise
7. To the extent possible, no refined sugar, no bread (watch out for Chinese dishes cooked with sugar)
8. Limit alcohol to 1 – 2 times a week
9. Use olive oil, forget butter; nothing fried
10. Daily exercise

During a diet phase: NO carbs at night works like a miracle.

During maintenance (not diet) phase it is OK to go off these guidelines once a week.

I eat sugar-free high fiber cereal with fruit for breakfast. I fresh grind 2 tablespoons of flax seeds and add to the cereal. This is easier than it sounds: buy a cheap coffee bean grinder and dedicate it to this use. I use light Silk or skim milk.

I do not believe in “no carbs.” I do trust in the glycemic index – and with much regret have therefore given up beer and fruit juice.

I also take some high quality vitamin supplements.

Last year, I wrote about how to order well when you dine out .

I believe that we have a great deal of power in our lives. The first step in taking charge of that power is realizing just how much we can create ourselves. This applies not just to fitness, but to relationships and many other important areas of our lives.

Fireworks view from Julie Spira’s rooftop terrace in Marina Del Rey

Julie Spira and I were explaining the value of a Google profile to a few of the party guests. Someone asked, ‘Why would I want to be more visible on the internet?’ The answer is: because you are already there – whether you like it or not. A profile you create yourself offers a free and easy way to represent yourself more accurately. (For more information about Google profiles you may like to read this article from Time Magazine.)

We threw this party specifically for Los Angeles based SingularCity.com community members. Julie and I started talking about doing the party just four days earlier but that’s the advantage of an Online Social Community, you can move very quickly. (OK …. Girls Who Get Things Done is a factor here).

Coming back to our discussion about the internet in our lives, Julie smartly pointed out to the internet wary participants in the dialogue, ‘it was the internet that got you to this gathering wasn’t it? If you weren’t a member of an online community (SingularCity) you wouldn’t even know about this party!’

I like to write about the value of the intersection of online and offline relationships and last night’s 4th of July SingularCity gathering would be a great example.

Having spent 20 of my July 4th’s in Japan, which needless-to-say does not celebrate the American birthday, I very much appreciated a close-up view of the fireworks shared with a lovely group of people.