Is it me, or is the world spinning?

Busy? Yep!

For the first couple years of this blog, which will be 5yrs old in March, I used to infrequently remark, "wow, today/ this week was really busy!" Over time that began to slowly migrate to "wow, this has been a busy month!" Now... "busy" is the new status quo and "I'm losing my mind" has become the new change of pace.

This weekend and last night, I had the pleasure of finally meeting some "old" friends face to face and making some new friends at various tweetups in town as the PRSA09 conference was in town. I got to finally meet my friend Kellye Crane, new friend Lauren Vargas and old new friend Steve Woodruff. I got to make new friends like Kami Huyse, Jacob Sloan and Fran Stephenson- among all the others whose names I have forgotten and business cards I have yet to rediscover. All of these folks are very smart people deeply involved in public relations and/ or social media. We all know I'm an SM geek, but I have a strong respect for PR professionals as well- a lot of what I do with marketing and branding shares very similar traits with PR. I was lucky enough to get to join these folks at various get-togethers during the week after the conferences. It should go without saying that I had a fantastic time and I am very happy I got to share some conversations and laughs with some folks I have a lot of respect for.

Tomorrow will hopefully be the day I get back on the bike for the first time in more than a week since hurting my back. The muscle is still pissed off with me, but it seems to be getting better... and I am growing too impatient to wait any longer. It's gonna be one of those agonizing recovery rides where everything feels wrong and I feel like I should just take up golf... but you have to start somewhere. I've been hoping for months that this winter will be the winter where I actually get back into the routine of steady training- even when traveling- so I really am anxious to get back on the bike and even into the gym. I'll try to report on how things go tomorrow...

So many cool little things going on right now and hopefully I'll be able to report on them very soon. There's some exciting things going on- I promise.

Tim

Being hurt stinks... big time.

So last week we had our uber top secret mega important Product Summit where we continued to refine our products into industry annihilating dream machines. The increased development and new projects and direction for the brand is going to cripple the competition and leave YOU gasping for air as you throw wads of money at your local retailer begging them for a new Masi. You know me- I've never even once exaggerated in even the tiniest little bit... not once, not ever. (You've been warned...)

The only "glitch" to the week is that in a totally inane and seemingly innocuous way, I pulled a muscle or strained something in my back that has left me completely unable to ride since Tuesday and in moments of searing pain. As I was putting my backpack on my left shoulder- which has my laptop in it and is relatively heavy- the strap slipped off the shoulder and fell to the ground. In my attempt to catch the pack and save the computer from hitting the ground, I twisted awkwardly and the weight of the bag caused the injury somehow. I did manage to save the bag from hitting the ground, but my back has paid the price. I've been walking like an old man or Frankenstein ever since. Today is the first day that sitting down or standing up doesn't result in a serious groan of pain. For the record; getting stupid injuries because you're a dork (and getting old) really, really sucks. The "silver lining" is that my cold seems to have gone away finally... now if I could only ride a bike...

This weekend is the start of the PRSA 09 conference here in San Diego. Though I am not attending the conference, it has brought a convergence of many of the really, really smart folks I "know" through Social Media (and if you have been reading this blog for very long, you know I'm as passionate about SM as I am about bikes). Last night after the conference, I went to one of the tweetups and had the chance to finally put a face to the @. I don't get too many chances to attend any of these kinds of functions from here in San Diego- usually because I'm quite simply working or traveling- so it's always a bit of a thrill when I get to meet people I only know digitally and even more exciting when I meet new smart people. So, even in my sore old man condition, I had a blast getting to talk to some great folks last night like Lauren Vargas, Kami Huyse, Fran Stephenson and Jacob Sloan. The conference goes until Tuesday so I'm going to get the chance to meet a few more of my friends this week and I'm very happy about that (bad back or not)! For all the rest of you attending PRSA09 who I have not yet met- welcome to San Diego! I look forward to meeting you over the next couple days.

Tim