Cookies and Chemo
Posted on 13. Aug, 2010 by BrianSimpson in Community
This is the quick story of why Cookies and Chemo has been started. Thank you to those of you that have supported me so far – I look forward, with your help, to making many new friends and being able to make a difference in the lives of others.
~Cookies and Chemo~
I am a thirty year veteran of the hospitality industry. Three months after moving to NYC as a Food and Beverage Manager at The Plaza Hotel, I was diagnosed with thirteen tumors on my spine. They ranged from golf ball to grapefruit sized. My life was changed forever – I believe for the better. I now have a renewed passion for life, friends and the importance of helping others in need.
In a conversation with my girlfriend about volunteering she suggested I start my own ‘thing’. I woke up the next day trying to think of something from my treatment days that made me smile… I wrote the word cookie. Cookies and Chemo followed minutes later and here I am.
As a recent cancer survivor, and the son of a breast cancer survivor, I have a clear understanding and unfortunate memories of how devastating going through Chemotherapy is.
My goal is to bring together survivors, supporters and anyone great that wants to share cookies and conversation. My hope is to eventually bring comfort to those that are going through chemotherapy. I cannot cure cancer, I can give comfort, with money, by purchasing new chairs, iPods, computers, books and other items that make sitting for six hours a day more tolerable. Not just for the patients, also the nurses and staff, for example sending in lunch once a week. Moving forward I would like to raise money for improving chemo-suites and making the best of the worst.
Mission:
Making people smile at a time when they need it most.
Follow Friday People I Want To Meet
Posted on 25. Jun, 2010 by BrianSimpson in Community
Usually my #FollowFriday post is people I am recommending you should all follow because I think they are bad-ass. Each week follows a theme and this week it is people I think you need to follow that I really want to meet. In my position at Roger Smith Hotel I meet a lot of amazing people as they travel to New York city, attend events here or just stop by for a beer on their way home. I would say I am both fortunate and lucky with the amount of real life friends that have developed from in-person meetings. That is why this post is so important to me. I know there are so many more people to meet and connect with, for real.
Here are my current three:
Name Michelle A.K.A. @MissSarcastic
Location New York
Web YouTube Channel
Bio My vlogging Twitter account, where I lay the sarcasm on thick and nothing is professional.
I have followed Michelle for a while and find her to be entertaining, smart and real. Her above bio makes her fun, the bio below makes her interesting. Bio I have a thing for social media and tech, and a bad beta user habit. I’m part of BrewPR and a NYU Adjunct Professor teaching social media. As soon as I started to mention Michelle’s name around some of my friends I realized how many friends we had in common and they all speak very highly of her!
I believe she may even stop by the hotel today… sure would be nice to cross one off the list before the day even ends.
Name Seth Godin
Bio Seth has written twelve books that have been translated into more than thirty languages. Every one has been a bestseller. He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything.
American Way Magazine calls him, “America’s Greatest Marketer,” and his blog is perhaps the most popular in the world written by a single individual. His latest book, LINCHPIN, hit the Amazon top 10 on the first day it was published and became a New York Times bestseller.
As an entrepreneur, he has founded dozens of companies, most of which failed. Yoyodyne, his first internet company, was funded by Flatiron and Softbank and acquired by Yahoo! in 1998. It pioneered the use of ethical direct mail online, something Seth calls Permission Marketing. He was VP of Direct Marketing at Yahoo! for a year.
When I think of Seth Godin my thoughts are this; When people say “think outside the box” I imagine Seth asking “what box.” Innovative thinker, inspiring writer and breaker of conformity. Seth’s views on education, the workplace and challenging the ‘norm’ make him a hero to me and someone I think we should all follow. Meeting Seth would complete the circle of books, blog posts and real person.
Name AJ Bombers A.K.A. @AJBombers
Location Milwaukee, WI
Web http://ajbombers.com
Bio Milwaukee’s best new hamburger joint, smoke free and loads of p-nut bombs. Where everybody knows your name. Well, at least your twitter name.
There is not a lot to say… why would I not want to recommend a place that has “gi-normous’” orders of fries and has replied to every tweet I have ever included them in?
I can’t think of a better use of social media from a restaurant… nothing even comes close. I want to meet everyone that works there – in many ways I feel as though I already have!
These are my #followfriday picks for this week. I already follow them all in one way or another and I believe you should as well… If you have ever met any of these people please let me know what you thought (or warn me, especially about those burger people from Milwaukee)
Happy Friday all ~ Enjoy the weekend!
Follow Friday ~ Close To Home Edition
Posted on 11. Jun, 2010 by BrianSimpson in Community, Hotel, Lily's Restaurant
Here at the Roger Smith Hotel, social media is less about being a ‘department’ and more about building a culture. People and stories have always been a part of the hotel and now with the reach of social networks more people can participate, connect and enjoy our community. We have an amazing staff here at the hotel and some have taken the initiative to make social networking a part of their jobs on a daily basis. If you have ever been to the hotel you have probably met them and hopefully agree with me when I say these three individuals are worth the follow on this wonderful June Friday!
Yamile Diaz:
Yamile is the face, heart and soul of Lily’s restaurant here at the Roger Smith Hotel. He takes customer service seriously and it shows. He speaks multiple languages ( great for our visitors from overseas ), he is willing to do whatever it takes to make a guest happy and most of all he cares. If you have the stomach to handle one of the most energized people you could meet please stop by and say hello to Yamile…Or you can find him on Twitter as @RSYamilio
John Knowles:
John is the President and CEO of Panman Production and has produced numerous films, live broadcasts and content for the Roger Smith Hotel.Most recently John and his team produced a series of six short films called “The Roger Smith Shorts” which were screened last night at the Brooklyn International Film Festival. His creative juices and passion for new innovative ways of sharing visual arts on and off line have taught me about a whole new way of creating and sharing stories.
John can easily be found -> On Twitter @PanmanProd @Pancity or see his YouTube channel Roger Smith News.
Melissa Rodriguez:
Melissa is one of our friendliest bartenders, although she is so much more. Aside from entertaining, serving and being a creative mixologist, Melissa is in culinary school and has started a food blog FoodVixenNYC. Melissa is a text book example of what it means to be a Roger Smith employee.
Many of you know Melissa in real life… until now you may not have known how to find her when not sitting at her bar…now you can 
On twitter @FoodVixenNYC
Have a great weekend and enjoy the World Cup!
GO USA!
Three Day Weekend = Three Cool Friends !
Posted on 28. May, 2010 by BrianSimpson in Community
We are lucky here at the roger smith hotel to have an inspiring, creative and passionate group of loyal friends that support us on many levels. As a small token of our appreciation and in an attempt to repay what these people bring to our community, we will be featuring three new people every Friday as our ‘follow Friday’ list. Follow Friday, a concept born from the creative mind of Micah Baldwin, has lost some of what we believe Micah started it for, purpose. Do not get us wrong, when @RSHotel shows up in any #FF or #FollowFriday lists it is an honor. What seems to have happened though is too many people are trying too hard to pay homage to their friends without truly letting us know: who, what or why these ‘lists’ of people are worth following.
Have you ever taken a road trip? Not a day trip. What I am talking about is a multi-day excursion encompassing different states, cultures and obstacles along the way. If you do this alone it can be fun, do it with a group of people and it becomes life changing. In March I was lucky to be a part of an initiative by Chevy in which eight groups from around the country were given the opportunity to drive to SXSW in Austin, TX. There were five of us: Me, two people I knew well, one I had just met and lastly one I didn’t meet until the morning of our departure. Three of these people live in NYC and they are my Follow Friday focus this week. Khayyam Wakil, one of the five will appear in a future post… for now he gets this brief cameo (luv ya buddy)
When you are in a car for four days with people the trials and tribulations can either make you want to kill them, hug them, laugh with them, cry with them and in this case all of the above
Most importantly you get to ‘live’ with them. Not as acquaintances, not as someone you nod to at a cocktail party – you get to experience their idiosyncrasies – what really makes them click.
I was honored to travel with this group, they added value to my life and have the innate ability to be genuine, outspoken and stand behind their values. For this I applaud them, embrace them as friends and strongly encourage you to do the same.
Sarah Simmons: Hands-down the Matriarch of the Chevy Tahoe. The voice of reason, organizer of insanity and most of all – just one of the most wonderful people to have a conversation with.
Nick McGlynn: Opposite of Sarah – Creator of insanity, A.D.D. overload master and photographer extraordinaire. Nick also possessed a skill none of us could match… he, for some reason, was the ONLY person that could consistently communicate with the On-Star ‘voice’. Thank you N-I-C-K !.
Jessica Randazza: PR and networking genius. Jessica kept us laughing, kept us calm and most of all was the ‘smile’ of the group. Willing to do anything for the cause- dressing in tinfoil, arm-wrestling a diner cook and getting a Chevy tattoo (in Sharpie). Most of all a loyal friend.
As we head into this long holiday weekend remember this:
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. Memorial Day is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all. I strongly believe the three people I featured this week give there all every day and I am lucky to call them friends.
Have a Safe and enjoyable Memorial Day Weekend.
B
Sarah Simmons:
Sarah is Food and Wine magazine’s Home Cook Superstar. Sarah spends her days crafting new recipes and making instructional cooking videos in the hopes of helping others to become superstars in their own kitchens.
Tell her what you want to make!
Twitter: @SarahmcSimmons
Blog: homecooksuperstar
Nick McGlynn:
Nick currently does freelance event photography for various companies including his own site Random Night Out. Most recent full time job was at Gawker Media where Nick worked in their video department editing clips and managing interns. He also throw a monthly media event called Obliterati.
Twitter: @NMcglynn
Blog: nickmcglynn.com
Jessica Randazza:
A public relations and social media strategist for a global public relations agency with an extensive focus on nonprofit and consumer and currently resides in New York City.Its Jessica’s mission and desire to stay engaged in emerging technologies that enhance the way that consumers and individuals connect online. Which means she spends a lot of time on her iPhone — in fact she never puts it down.
She’s also is co-founder of ColdPavement, an exercise in meeting and talking with people you may or may not know in the communications field.
A graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, vegetarian cook extraordinaire, shoe enthusiast, struggling seamstress and yogini.
Twitter: @JessicaRandazza
Blog: jessicarandazza .com
Three must know people… because they care. @Sarahprevette @Holaphil @JakRose
Posted on 21. May, 2010 by BrianSimpson in Community
We are lucky here at the roger smith hotel to have an inspiring, creative and passionate group of loyal friends that support us on many levels. As a small token of our appreciation and in an attempt to repay what these people bring to our community, we will be featuring three new people every Friday as our ‘follow Friday’ list. Follow Friday, a concept born from the creative mind of Micah Baldwin, has lost some of what we believe Micah started it for, purpose. Do not get us wrong, when @RSHotel shows up in any #FF or #FollowFriday lists it is an honor. What seems to have happened though is too many people are trying too hard to pay homage to their friends without truly letting us know: who, what or why these ‘lists’ of people are worth following.
Week two of #followfriday or #FF is very special. You shouldn’t just follow Sarah because of her amazing work in the entrepreneurial world, Phil for his intuitive instincts and passion for location based utilities or Jason because he can connect you with anyone you may ‘need’ to know. You should follow these three because they have the natural ability to enrich your life, not your career, your life. As I sit on the Bolt Bus cruising up to Boston I am reminded that I moved to NYC two years ago and the friends I have made since are friends for life. Sarah, Jason and Phil are three of those people.
These are three people worth the ‘follow’.
Happy Friday and Enjoy your weekend!
Sarah Prevette a.k.a. Canada
Entrepreneur. Startup afficionado. Founder of Sprouter
Company: http://sprouter.com/sarah
Website: http://sprouter.com/
Twitter: @Sarahprevette
Phil Di Giulio - PegShot
Bio : NY based entrepreneur interested in the influence of digital media on local economies. Co-founded @pegshot @wellcomemat Organize @futureoflocal
Companies:
http://realestatevideo.wellcomemat.com/
http://pegshot.com/
Jason Keath - Social Fresh
Bio Where we’re going, we don’t need roads… [Founder of @SoFresh]
Company: http://socialfresh.com
Social Fresh is a social media event and community company based out of Charlotte, NC. Social Fresh flagship events are one day conferences targeted for marketers, focused on case studies, and currently being offered across the country in under-served cities.
Twitter: @JakRose @SoFresh
And the Winner Is… “Henry’s Rooftop Bar”
Posted on 17. May, 2010 by BrianSimpson in Hotel, Lily's Restaurant
It’s official! The name of the terrace on the 16th floor of the Roger Smith Hotel will be called
“Henry’s Rooftop Bar” and here is the winner with her entry:
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“You should name the bar after Henry…he’s pretty much the cutest thing in the world and I think you should appreciate him a bit more around there.”
Our Fearless leader on 'his' terrace @RSHotel
We are all excited for the bar to open on Memorial Day Weekend, 2010. Henry is particularly anxious for his new Summer hang-out. Many people have had the pleasure of experiencing the terrace during events on the 16th floor Solarium. Now, for the first time in over 5 years, we will be opening from 5-10pm Monday-Friday with a full bar, wine, draft & bottled beer and food.
Stay tuned for a few ‘warm-up’ events leading up to the official opening !
Three People You Should Know
Posted on 14. May, 2010 by BrianSimpson in Community
We are lucky here at the roger smith hotel to have an inspiring, creative and passionate group of loyal friends that support us on many levels. As a small token of our appreciation and in an attempt to repay what these people bring to our community, we will be featuring three new people every Friday as our ‘follow Friday’ list. Follow Friday, a concept born from the creative mind of Micah Baldwin, has lost some of what we believe Micah started it for, purpose. Do not get us wrong, when @RSHotel shows up in any #FF or #FollowFriday lists it is an honor. What seems to have happened though is too many people are trying too hard to pay homage to their friends without truly letting us know: who, what or why these ‘lists’ of people are worth following.
This week we kick it off with three people very dear to me (Brian Simpson) and us (the Team at Roger Smith Hotel). We have included a brief bio on each person, their passion and how to connect with them. Please take a moment to read about our friends, you will find they are all very valuable not only in their fields but more importantly as people.
Happy ‘Follow’ Friday !
Elizabeth King:
Elizabeth is the author of “OUTSMARTING the SAT” (Ten Speed, 2008) and President of Elizabeth King Coaching, Inc., a test preparation company based in New York City. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a degree in Cultural Economics and is the recipient of a Mount Holyoke College Class of 1905 Alumnae Fellowship and a Mount Holyoke College Bardwell Fellowship.
Blog: StayOutOfSchool.com
StayOutOfSchool.com investigates why one of the greatest, albeit hard-headed, creative thinkers of our time advises young, creative college graduates to stay out of graduate school. The exploration will reach further, though, into how institutional education at all levels, creativity, individuality, and the fruit of “the school of life” have long been at war. Ultimately, Stay Out Of School aims to critically assess those issues most relevant to the 21st century thinker and innovator and recommend ways to bring those issues to light inside the classroom and ingratiate them into American culture.
Twitter: @ElizabethOnline
Adam Hirsch:
Chief Operations Officer of Mashable - The #1 Social Media News Site Co-Founder of My Social Dog – The first social network to connect local dog owners in real-time
Adam Hirsch is the COO, responsible for event planning (MashMeets, Open Web Awards, Conferences, etc), partnership and sponsorship opportunities, marketing, client relations and of course, Pete’s “2nd in Command.” Always on the hunt for a partnership or opportunity to improve Mashable. Adam is a New York City native and a graduate of Cornell University.
Blog: Mashable.com
Founded in July 2005, Mashable is the world’s largest blog focused exclusively on Web 2.0 and Social Media news. With more than 15 million monthly pageviews, Mashable is the most prolific blog reviewing new Web sites and services, publishing breaking news on what’s new on the web and offering social media resources and guides. Mashable’s audience includes early adopters, social media enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, influencers, brands and corporations, marketing, PR and advertising agencies, Web 2.0 aficionados and technology journalists. Mashable is also popular with bloggers, Twitter and Facebook users — an increasingly influential demographic.
Twitter: @AdamHirsch
Steve Etzler:
Business Development Institute (BDI), founded in 2001 in New York City by Steve Etzler and managed by Maria Feola, is a leading conference and webinar producer for communicators. Our programs educate while providing valuable networking opportunities to our attendees. Over 8,000 leaders have attended our programs on the latest trends, issues and opportunities that impact communicators. The quality of our speakers, program topics, format, network, and value are what differentiates BDI from its competitors.
Blog: BDIOnLine.com
On January 13, 2010, Business Development Institute and PR Newswire hosted the first event of 2010: Social Integration – Harmonizing Social Channels into the Marketing, Communications, & Service Platform. Over 250 people attended the case studies and two interactive roundtable sessions. BlogTalkRadio has provided an audio cast of the case studies with presentations from HP, NHL, PepsiCo, Harvard Business School, Michelin North America, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, and Sprint Nextel . To access the audio cast, please visit www.bdionline.com/socialintegrationrecording.html.
Twitter:@bdionline
Twittering Through Chemo: Brian Simpson & Drew Olanoff @ SXSW Conf
Posted on 22. Apr, 2010 by BrianSimpson in Community, Hotel
When I tell people that cancer saved my life, I get the same look every time, Bewilderment. If not for cancer I am not writing this post. Those of you that have become my friends are not reading it (and you’re not my friends)
I would not have had the courage to leave my career and fight for something bigger, more important. The friends that I have made combined with the joy and love I have experienced in the last eighteen months have made me realize this is living. Its about actually getting the most out of life with no excuses. Life is filled with mistakes, heartache and pain – no matter how optimistic you are. Surviving cancer has made me (and this will be a fun over use of overused words) a guru-maven-expert-cowboy-ninja-coach-superuser-connoisseur and master sage of finding the good in everything.
Its there, we are all good people.
The video in this post is a shortened version of my talk at SXSW with my friend Drew Olanoff. Without cancer mine or his, we are not friends. I BlameDrewsCancer for creating our friendship…see, even cancer has a good side. Thank you to all that attended our talk & to all of you that have supported and encouraged me.
Special thanks to Hugh Forrest and SXSW for the amazing opportunity to share our stories and a forum to hear the stories of others.
To @DannyGoulash & @Adwal for editing the video and The Team of The Roger Smith Hotel for the time and support to do it all!
Bsimi
Hey Dad, We Forgot To Say Goodbye…
Posted on 01. Apr, 2010 by BrianSimpson in Community
At 4:30am April 1st, 1997 blurry eyed and half asleep, I made my way to the freezer like I had a hundred times before. If sleep eating were a sport I would need Scott Boras as an agent, I’m that good. I grabbed my usual; Frozen chocolate chip cookie dough (homemade & portioned w/ plastic wrap), ice cold skim milk, a paper towel…and for some reckless/unconscious reason I took the cordless phone from its base, securing it between my chest and chin. I plopped myself on an old travel trunk we used as a coffee table (sitting on the couch was too comfy and usually led to waking up covered in crumbs-I told you I was good) set down the milk, dropped the phone and focused on the now softening cookie dough.
I have always disliked April Fool’s Day… its tiring spending your entire day wondering and qualifying every word, action and encounter you have with other people. People you would like to trust, normally do trust yet on this day – everyone is the enemy. It goes against human nature and at its root is just cruel. You know how Halloween is an excuse for girls to dress slutty..? April Fool’s Day is an excuse for the asses of the world to be honored for acting like…well you get the point.
4:40am the phone that had bounced to the floor and half under the couch rings… I thought to myself “what the F*#%” (I can’t in good conscience write WTF, it hadn’t been invented yet) Who:Why:What:NO the phone, really? Ruining a perfectly good binge… great… I did what people do, starred at it for a couple rings and hoped it would stop, it didn’t – so I answered it.
“Hey Brian – you’re up” said Steve, a local businessman and member of the volunteer fire department with my dad. I replied “well kinda, I’m eating cookie dough – is there something wrong?” Steve pauses… “it’s about your dad” he mumbles.
You see, I hadn’t talked to my dad in a few years. I would like to say it was because of busy schedules or the long distance between us… I would like to say it was a cliche. The truth is we lived about a mile and a half apart and my dad was retired with a lot of free time. We hadn’t talked because that’s what stubborn people do, we don’t budge – we don’t cave – we never give in. It didn’t make me sad (not on the outside), I was trained by the best… taught not to cry – emotions were not allowed – tears a sign of weakness.
“What’s happened to him now,” I asked, half thinking it was a joke. My dad was always up for a good prank and at times was just a prick. “He has- suffered – a massive- heart attack” were the words Steve forced out between deep breaths. I still didn’t believe him and I have to admit, at the time, I didn’t care. I arose from the trunk and started looking out the window as I asked “So how is he?” sadly still expecting it to be a joke. I was half asleep yet well aware of the date. “We were not able to save him… we have lost your dad…we have lost Henry” I sat back down and replied “So my dad is dead? Does my mom know?”
“Your mom is at the hospital- it was in his sleep – she tried – she did her best,” were the last words Steve said to me. I thanked him for calling, hung up and ate the rest of my snack. I brought my empty glass to the sink, threw away the plastic wrap, returned the phone to its base and then went back to sleep.
When I woke up a few hours later I turned to my wife and said “I think my dad died this morning…” I remember her thinking I was April Fooling her. I sat up and called my mom. When she answered she couldn’t speak, she was sobbing, as soon as I said “Mom it’s me” she lost it. I knew right away this was not joke. There would be no punchline, no clever twist.
My dad died at the age of 53 and I never got to say “Goodbye.” For years I blamed him, me, him, me, him…until a couple years ago I came to the realization that it isn’t about blame, it’s about life being too short. All our lives people piss us off, screw us over, say bad things… if we all keep subscribing to the principles of blame none of us will ever get to say goodbye.
I know today is April Fool’s Day – Please enjoy it and may the gods of a great prank shine down on you and your plots. Also remember this- at the end of the day all we really have is each other. Surprise someone today, not with a joke, surprise them with a friendly call or email… surprise them by being kind.
Writing this something very important has occurred to me: it actually isn’t about saying goodbye, it’s about having the courage to say hello.
Kurt Cobain Watches “Smells Like Teen Spirit” For 1st Time @RSHotel
Posted on 05. Mar, 2010 by BrianSimpson in Hotel
The power, the amazing ability to connect even the most random information, is what makes the internet so astounding. Yesterday as I am scanning TweetDeck I notice a tweet scroll through the ‘Roger Smith Hotel‘ column. (not everyone uses @RSHotel I figured out a while ago. lol )
Here is the tweet sent out by Roger A.K.A. @yaysarcasm to @SuzanneVara Owner of Kherize5 Advertising & Social Media Agency and my response:
Roger quickly responded with a tweet leading me closer to the truth:
I instantly looked up “Heavier Than Heaven” on-line continuing to track down the truth behind Roger’s tweet… its not that I didn’t believe you Roger but afterall it is twitter…right?!
Here is what I found next:
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page 205 Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain By Charles R. Cross
page 205 Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain By Charles R. Cross
I have walked into work today feeling a little bit different. Call me corny but in a Hotel that has built a reputation on story telling and people this to me is a damn good one. Kurt Cobain, Nirvana… fan or not you have to admit the history and nostalgia behind this discovery is a story to be repeated and shared.
I end by thanking Roger @YaySarcasm and @SuzannaVara for having a social conversation and sharing your insights with us here @RSHotel ! I will always remember this… its just cool.
R.I.P.
