WEEK #1

      It's1982.  I'm a junior at a prep school in Massachusettes and it's Spring Break.  My parents come out to visit and invite me to join them on a trip to New York City.  I've never been before.  I'm a West coast girl.  I grew up in LA, but I've always wanted to see New York City!  You know, Rockefeller Center, Broadway, towering deli sandwiches, foldable, giant slices of pizza, fantastic fashion, ferries, the subway...New York!  We drive up small winding roads, shadowed by trees bursting with blooms, exploding their way out of winter.  As we approach the Big Apple, I'm exhilarated and intimidated all at the same time as I see these massive tall towers crouched closed together, steep in history, culture, and lore.  I'm not disappointed at all.  It's everything I expected it to be and more. I can't wait to explore it!  It's so not LA!

     After we settled into our hotel, we set out to wander around this magnificent city.  My stepfather grew up here,  He does a lot of work here,  He knows it all too well.  It's a real city!  "Don't look up too much, you'll look like a tourist!"  But, I can't help it.  I crank my neck back as far back as it will go to see the tops of these miraculous engineering feats.  This place is vibrant, electric, and buzzing with small business, street business, big business, con men, street performers, every nationality, it's a true melting pot of society.  I love it!  

     After eating too much street food and viewing the infamous window displays of 5th Ave., we hop into a cab to head over to SoHo.  I'd heard of Soho before and was curious to see if it lived up to its reputation.  It did and more.  I'll never forget stepping out of the cab and onto the street, which is paved with Belgian blocks.  The air was cool and crisp, but the streets were fragrant with the warm scent of incense and long-burning candles.  There's a completely different vibe here from where we just were; a European vibe, a hippie vibe.  The architecture was divine!  Long arched windows and exposed brick line the streets with cast iron flourishes, and cast-iron facades painted to look like brick.  Stunning.  For me, it almost looked like it was straight out of West Side Story.  It could even pass for a quaint European city.  It had so much charm and you can see the influences of Italian and French artistry.  I couldn't tell a shop from a residence.  There were all mashed together.  There were exotic fabrics billowing out of door fronts, cool, hip one of a kind colorful clothing that drew you up steep stairs and into tiny shops.  You could sense how much passion these designers put into their work.  It almost felt like Stevie Nicks was going to walk out of one of these shops in one of her long flowy skirt and black top hat, draped in lace.  It had that cutting edge, hippie feel.  I wanted to walk into every store and see everything!  It was like nothing I had seen before!  Art was propped out on stoops, sidewalks, stairwells.  It was delightful.  It moved me to my core.  It was clear that there were happy artists living here and it was clear that this was their town.  They found a wonderful place to express themselves and they do it very well.

     I absolutely love art!  I love creating art and I especially love viewing art and that is why I chose SoHo as my theme.  Initially, I only chose it because it was the layout I liked best, but after questioning my choice, I remembered the impact that SoHo had on me almost 40 years ago.  It is one of my fondest memories out of all of my travels.  It was probably the first time that I really got to experience such an eclectic group of artists, from all walks of life, all living and selling their wares in such an incredibly beautiful venue.  Florence, Italy was like that for me as well.  But, SoHo also had that hippie side to it and I'm kind of a hippie at heart.  I'm a '70s girl.  I loved that era.  

SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESS OR PERSONAL USE

     I think for personal use, clearly, Facebook wins the top spot.  I'm not terribly savvy with technology, nor with social media, but even I have a Facebook page.  So does my dog.  It's user friendly.  (If I can do it, anyone can!)  You can find just about anyone you've ever met on it and it's fun!  I would say that Twitter is probably another social media that is great for personal use.  I don't quite get it though.  I mean, I don't really understand the attraction to it.  It always sounds like people are fighting on it to me.  I think Instagram is probably the other big social media used for personal use.  I hear about famous people posting on it all the time.  I think I like Instagram better because it uses photos.  I'm a visual person, so I think I would find it more appealing.

     I believe one of the best social media platforms for business would be Facebook, again.  I've bought things off of ads I saw while cruising through my Facebook page and I can't believe I did.  I didn't go onto my Facebook page to purchase anything, yet I ended up doing just that because someone put in a beautiful ad that caught my attention.  I think Facebook could be very effective for sales.  Tons of people are scrolling through their Facebook and then an ad pops up for cool new shoes...you click on it and before you know it, you're buying a product off of Facebook.  I find that amazing!  What an incredible audience reach!  Also, I don't know for sure, but I've heard that Instagram is becoming a huge platform for businesses, although, I'm not exactly sure why.  I did hear that off of a Social Media Marketing podcast I happened to be listening to one day. Once again, it's got visuals and I think people like visuals.  I don't always think that an image has to be exactly what the product is.  Sometimes, I think it's just the feeling that an image conveys that gets the attention of the consumer.  LinkedIn, of course, is good for business, but it seems like it's more of a service-oriented B2B platform.  Still, very successful, just different.

    Overall, I think all of the social media platforms have a place for businesses and for personal.  I think it depends on what you're selling and who you are selling it to.  I think it will come down to demographics and narrowing down your target audience for business and for personal use, any one of those will do, but Facebook still takes the lead on that one.