Basking in the glow of being complemented with “... thank you for your warm approach you gave on the chat, it was indeed a great pleasure assisting you today...” from the Amazon customer support live chat person I interacted with this week (guessing most don’t go so well), I share with you what else the week that was for me.

From Social Certifiable to Certified – Where many of you reading this would likely concur I am certifiable, I crossed the chasm to certified... in social media that is. I completed the HubSpot Social Media Marketing certification course and became Social Media Certified. The course itself was very well done and engaging. Even though my own personal use of social media has decreased significantly, it’s not that I don’t believe in it at all. This is a great course for anyone who is using social now for their own business, as it provides great structure and tactics.

Social Flashback – Back in the day when I was much more involved in social media, I was all over the original post my friend James Whatley re-shared this week about the human element in social media. It was also nice to re-read my comments on it too.

Why My Snow Blower is Gassed and Ready – Last week we got more snow here in Dairyland, but it was unlike what I had ever seen before. It resembled those small styrofoam balls that stick to whatever Ikea furniture you are trying to assemble. In talking with a friend, there’s a name for this kind of snow – graupel.

Get a Bonus to Pay for Snow Blower Gas – Where I got no “bonus” when I moved to where I live now, there are cities across the US who will pay you to move there. Why? Some places need more residents, so they are paying people who are remote workers to live there, and will pay more if you get a job locally. The Web site Make My Move lists such locales. For example, you can get upwards to US$15,000 to move to Vermont. That money will come in handy buying gas to clear the snow as well as all the Ben and Jerry’s ice cream you can eat at the factory there.

Not Breezing Through the Windy City – Only 11 Intersections in Chicago Have Accessible Pedestrian Signals but I know many more have red light traffic violation cameras.

Glad This Is Here – I am a fan of Adam J. Kurtz’s work. 1 Page At A Time is a great creative journal with amazing prompts. Things Are What You Make Of Them is a great compilation of motivational stories and quotes. So when I heard his latest work, You Are Here (For Now): A Guide to Finding Your Way, is available for pre-order, I jumped on it. His simple yet elegant art coupled with quirky yet thought-provoking narratives are a nice departure from the everyday rat race.

My First Clubhouse – This past week my friend Eric Patel invited me to co-host a “chat” on Resuscitating Underperforming Friendships on the relatively new audio-only social media platform Clubhouse. If you’re not familiar with it, anyone can do a “chat” or talk (or whatever they call it) and people can listen and be brought up to the stage to participate. Not sure how many people were listening, but at a minimum it was good practice at public presentation. This was also the first real time I used the app, and the jury’s still out as to how this will mix in with the few podcasts in my queue I don’t have time to listen to.

Because It Needs to be Repeated – Many have heard actor/producer/media mogul Tyler Perry’s award acceptance speech from last weekend’s Oscars awards. If you haven’t, or even have, it’s worth watching again and every once in a while.

A Database That Hopefully Won’t Be Needed Much Longer – I came across the Canceled People database where people who have been canceled in business, politics and popular culture are stored and can be queried. It’s sad something like this even exists, let alone the data that is populating it.

You Get a QR Code, and You Get a QR Code – You’ve seen the square bar codes called QR codes just about everywhere these days. They have been around for a long time, and about a decade ago there was a big push to use them, but they never took off. Why? Because Steve Jobs wouldn’t build-in a QR code reader on the iPhone. As there is one there now, you see them much more often. If you have ever had the inkling to create one, check out QRCode Monkey where you can create one or more for free. They have other paid options for tracking snaps, etc., but for free you can do a lot.

A QR code fun fact is that the code doesn’t always have to go to a Web site. You can even embed a message in one!

A Class Action Out, A Check In – In the same week I heard about this anti-trust class-action lawsuit against BlueCross BlueShield I got a check in the mail for another class-action lawsuit over text messages sent without the recipient’s opt-in. It comes as no surprise I spent the US$2.50 all at once.

This is My Kind of Camping!

Still Sticking – As my new co-working space is in a downtown area, I have been getting out at lunch for walks and noticing things I hadn’t before. One such is this advertisement pictured above for Wrigley’s Spearmint Gum painted on the side of a bar. Clearly it’s been there for a while, and it was nice to capture this sign from a time where such painting was prevalent.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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