Three Day Weekend = Three Cool Friends !
Posted on 28. May, 2010 by BrianSimpson in Community, Events, Hotel
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, Hotel
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 Henry's Roof Top, 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, Hotel
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
The #140 Conference on Ustream!
Posted on 21. Apr, 2010 by Editor in Community, Events, Hotel
The 140 Characters Conference: New York City (#140conf) will be taking place April 20-21, 2010 at the 92nd Street Y. This event is shaping up to being the largest worldwide gathering of people interested in the effects of the real-time Internet on both business and “we” the people.
Our event is mostly sold-out. The remaining tickets available for #140conf NYC are one day passes to attend on Wednesday, April 21st. If you would like to network with the #140conf NYC community, please consider purchasing a ticket for our networking party on the evening of April 20th. #140conf NYC will be broadcast live in it’s entirety on UStream. Please join the broadcast over at:http://www.ustream.tv/nyc140conf.
The format at the #140conf events is unique. Individual talks 10 minutes, keynotes are 15 minutes and panel discussions are no more than 20 minutes. During the course of the two days more than 140 people will share the stage at the 92nd Street Y in about 70 sessions. To get a feel of the energy you may experience in April, click here to review the videos from the 2009 #140conf NYC.
At #140conf NYC we will be taking a hard look at something Jeff Pulver calls “The State of NOW” and the continued effects the worldwide adoption of social communication platforms such as twitter is having on a number of industries including: Celebrity, “The Media”, Advertising, Politics, Education, Music, Television, Comedy, Real Estate, Public Policy and more.
The take aways from this event will provide the attending delegates knowledge, perspectives and insights to the next wave of effects twitter and the real-time internet will have on business in 2010 and beyond.
#140conf Los Angeles will be taking place October 5/6 and #140conf London will be taking place October 26/27. If you are interested in speaking and/or sponsoring these events, please contact Jeff Pulver.
David Spark interviews @jeffpulver with his take on #140conf and the Real-Time web while at SXSW 2010
Brian Simpson and his journey to Vermont
Posted on 19. Apr, 2010 by Editor in Community, Hotel
It has been almost one full week back in NYC after an amazing two weeks at The Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT.
I was lucky enough to escape the city and spend time amongst the residence as they entrenched themselves in their passions; fiction writing, poetry, sculpting, painting and sometime a little of all these disciplines.
The experience truly opened my eyes to the world of self expression and the importance of art in any form.
Beyond the art, poems and pieces created, the real experience was getting to know all of the amazing people and where each gets their inspiration from.
Allen, Bruce, Vanessa, Donna, Anne, Claire, Geoffrey, Emily, Kester… trust me this list goes on and on… Thank you all for your friendship – I look forward to staying in-touch and seeing what comes next from all your creative minds.
Special thanks to Gary & George for being fantastic hosts and to Ariel for ridiculously good food !
Social Media in Sweden: Andrea Jovell Swensson
Posted on 15. Apr, 2010 by Editor in Community, Hotel
Adam Wallace of the Roger Smith Hotel met up with Andrea Jovell Swensson, PR consultant for the Swedish company “Tillväxtakademin” (translating to Academy of Growth) in Sweden. In true Roger Smith fashion, they sat down in Lily’s Restaurant for a quick bite and started chatting.
Here, Andrea sheds light on her own perspectives on what Social Media and Twitter means to the business world, how it is used in Sweden and how fast it’s growing! Check it out.
Daniel Kalmar: RSH foreign legionnaire
Posted on 22. Mar, 2010 by Editor in Community, Hotel
My name is Daniel Kalmar, also known as DannyGoulash on Twitter, and I’m one of six foreign management trainees working at Roger Smith Hotel, currently within Social Media! Originally from Sweden, I’ve been around and experienced a lot in my days, but nothing has affected me quite as much as my current situation.
As things have progressed, I’ve made this exclusive interview together with Adam Wallace, blabbering about myself and also a narrated slideshow of my recent family visit, more specifically my brother and sister-in-law. In these videos, I was told to just let everything out, which I tried to do as quickly is possible not to make these videos too long
So here’s a little peek into my world!
I am also the newest addition to the Roger Smith Social Media team, and I’m loving it! Great department to work in, great things to do, a constant flow of tasks and most importantly, an unorthodox way of marketing! Brian Simpson gave me the coolest nickname I’ve had for long time, he branded me the “Social Media Project Killer”. Doing my best to live up to that…Well, that’s all for now, see you around, folks!
Daniel Kalmar
Zane’s Crib in Dallas, TX
Posted on 19. Mar, 2010 by Editor in Community, Hotel
In February, Adam Wallace and Cesar Avery of the Roger Smith Hotel had the opportunity to visit Twitter friend and Roger Smith supporter, Zane Aveton (@zaneology). They got the chance to take a tour of Zane’s “building”, a 6,000 sq/ft photo lab that they gutted and turned in to a beautiful loft. What they have done to the space is quite impressive!
