Like any road or trail we may travel , the path to a positive and fulfilling life is achieved through a continuous commitment.  A commitment to ourselves and everyone in our world.  It is through trial and error, and the failings that occur as the result, that we ultimately grow. 

Just like the phoenix rises from the ashes to fly again, so too will we, when we learn how to use our failures as lessons.  Lessons that challenge us at the very core of our fiber.  For we must learn to be resilient. It is not enough to merely go through life.  We must learn to grow through life!

If you have been born into a loving family, you have been blessed.  Give thanks for it.  Honor and respect them with your actions.   If you have your health, you have true wealth.  Use it wisely.  If you are wise, share your intellect with the world.  We need all the great minds put towards the many challenges facing our planet. 

Recognize the importance of our place in history.  Each of us are but one link in a continuous chain.  The opportunity to make a difference lies within every living person.  Rise to your potential by surrounding yourself with people who inspire you.  Aspire to greatness!  Always!!

Seek and find the answers to anything that you do not understand.

Develop a hunger for information.  It leads to knowledge.  And knowledge leads to power.

Choose behavior that reflects the way you want to be treated. 

Love and be loved.   Laugh often.  Cry real tears without fear. 

Realize how special you are..  Seize the moments of your days…

Honor life and those who live….on the path to the positive!!

These three wizards of the web, Bill Sobel, Andrea Syrtash, and Ann Nyberg came together yesterday to discuss the opportunities social media offers in personal branding and growing your own personal community.  These online topics were discussed live in a very relaxed round table style of conversation.

Ann Nyberg, Connecticut’s self appointed “fairy godmother”, opened the discussion by introducing Bill Sobel.  Instantly, I knew we were not in Oz when Bill Sobel began speaking.  He is open, honest, and so immediately had my trust, that I would allow this “superconnector” to lead me down the yellow brick road or anywhere his conversation leads.  “Dating expert”, Andrea Syrtash, has so much going on for her between books, tours, coaching, and creating online content, that she truly is the leader of the brand. The personal brand that is. 

The conversation between the three of them was focused around connections, conversations, sharing content, people helping people, and the importance of developing your voice.  Authenticity, transparency, and the need to be real were woven throughout the dialogue.  Tools for getting into the online conversation were highlighted, as well.  The big three; Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin were unanimously agreed upon as being  the most important platforms to be engaged with for growing your personal communities.  The power of tweeting, retweeting, linking posts to tweets were topics that were raised by Nyberg, with both Sobel and Syrtash, in agreement about the importance of them. 

While they all agree that what’s coming next is anyone’s guess, the urgency to get onboard “the train”, as Ann says, has never been more important!  Everything has shifted and all of us are in “Oz” trying to figure out the new rules, the new way of the world.  The power is back in our hands, the hands of the people.  People like me. People like you.  Our voices need to raised, in concert, rising up above “the noise”, like a beautiful symphony.  In unison. Together we have the power change our world. Individually, it is up to each one of us to build our communities.

With such leaders sharing their visions with us, I think we have little to fear, and everything to gain, if we join them.  My plan is to connect, both online and offline, with Bill Sobel, the “human link”, Andrea Syrtash, the self coined “slasher”, and Ann Nyberg, Connecticut’s “Glinda, the good witch” as often as I can. 

My lesson here……follow, follow, follow, follow! Follow the clickable link!!

I was at the start of my professional skating career when Ann Nyberg first appeared on the TV screen in my parent’s living room.  It was on WTNH.  Back then it was called Action News 8.   Yes, I  am talking about a time when there was generally one TV in the house, and it actually brought people together.  Ann was this young, starry eyed girl next door type, a very pretty blond, reporting news and stories with the professionalism of a veteran.  She had an immediacy about her. She seemed as likable as any of my three sisters friends, but with an authority and genuine honesty that transcended far beyond her age or experience. 

Throughout the past 25 plus years, as I have circled the globe countless times in my professional skating career, I have always come home to New Haven, my family, and Ann Nyberg.  It seems with Ann, the more things change, the more they stay the same.  We have seen her in Cuba, at the Vatican, and live on the scene throughout Connecticut.  During this long tenure, we have seen countless co-anchors come and go…far too many for me to actually remember!  Not Ann!  She has remained on our TV screens delivering us the news with that same unwavering authority and Midwestern honesty.  Ann has become one of the most recognizable faces in the state. 

Everyone knows that the internet and Web 2.0 has been eroding both, the audiences, and advertising base of traditional broadcaster’s markets.  Today, we live in an era where news and stories break live and are reported by anyone, anywhere, via Twitter, Facebook, etc.  With this has  come the recent “shake up” at New Haven’s WTNH,  owned by LIN TV.  The chatter has been largely that our consummate professional, Ann Nyberg, has been “downgraded”or “demoted.” The popular 6 and 11pm slots have been filled with “new blood.”  Yet,  Ann, continues to bring us the news from WTNH’s latest incarnation, News 8, at 5 and 10pm, like the pro she has been since the beginning of her long career here in New Haven.

Perhaps Ann continues to deliver us the news with the same enthusiasm  she has for years because that is just her style.   Maybe she is… just that professional!  Or could it be that our local celebrity has something new going on?  While  many in the industry have complained about the destruction the internet has caused to traditional media, and the future of it, Ann seems to have, so smartly embraced it!

Yes, Ann sits at her anchor desk doing what she has been doing for WTNH for years, but online A new Ann Nyberg is swiftly emerging.  She is very publicly on Facebook, she is on twitter@annnyberg, she blogs on anniemame.com, and she even launched a group, “Navigating Change,” bringing support to those suffering in these hard financial times. 

So, as Ann tweets regularly, and friends people on Facebook, and blogs, she offers us so much more than we have ever imagined form our beloved anchor.  She is bringing us tasty little morsels of culture, music, arts, and all things Connecticut.  She remains a storyteller….A storyteller who now brings us her heart, her humanity, her compassion, and so much more.

It appears, Ann, is “navigating change” just like her namesake group.  Who knows if there will be another WTNH contract in her future?  It probably doesn’t matter! Because on-line and in social media Ann has combined the greatness of traditional media and professional journalism, bringing it to her new platforms. 

“Brand Nyberg” has arrived………now that’s something to tweet about!