Being Cheryl: Columbus Social Media and Random Humor

Initially, I had planned to post this entry on the seventh day of my FastFriends Twitter experiment, giving highlights from each conversation and maybe posting pictures or something.

Well, I got WAY too much out of EVERY meetup I had to actually do that. Plus, I didn’t take notes so I would probably omit the more important aspect of the conversation in favor of the more obscene (asI am prone to do.) Also, today is day 9, not day 7, because I’m lazy and didn’t feel like writing this Saturday afternoon. OOPSIEZ!

So instead, I’m going to write the biggest thing I’ve gained so far, followed by an ungodly short run-through of the week (imagine a slideshow going by when you read it, since I, uh, failed to take pictures, too.)

CHEERS!

1. I’ve become a much more effective communicator. It seems strange that after only a week, I feel like I’ve actually self-improved tremendously. But after the first 2 days, I started to notice that I was getting less and less uncomfortable jumping into a conversation with, essentially, a stranger. And I started doing it other places, too – lines in stores, restaurants, etc. There are a lot of people who are just like that. And I myself have never been an anti-social person by any means. But taking an hour each day to talk to a new person has really, well, helped me enjoy talking to two people. I had started to feel this way around day 4, but I knew for sure on day 6. But not because of the meetup. I had an interview Friday afternoon (and frequent readers will know how much I LOVE interviews! *gag*) and I was not stressed before, during, or after the interview. Because it was just another conversation with another new person. I didn’t need to have a rehearsed answer ready to give for a question like I usually do, because I wasn’t afraid to laugh and say “I don’t know,” which I did at least once, lol. This also got affirmed at our office Christmas party later that evening, when I had lengthy business and personal conversations with people I’ve never spoken to in my 5 months with my company.

2. I’ve made a LOT of friends. DUH THAT WAS THE WHOLE FREAKIN POINT CHERYL, WHY THE HELL DIDN’T YOU OPEN WITH THIS?! But seriously, this has been one of the most fun weeks I’ve had in a long time, and I know for a fact I will see every single person I’ve met so far again, because they’re all so fabulous. As Angela Siefer and I were discussing this morning, you almost know for a fact you’re going to like the people you interact with on Twitter, because you have at least one very strong common interest – Twitter. Kicking off with Happy Greek dips and Nintendo 64 with Drew LaPlante, then Chipotle and laughs with David Watts, then holiday ale tasting and internet chats with Zach Mason and Bryan Cristina, then tasty beverages and learning lots from Jim Canterucci, then B-Dubs and fun with Eric Yruegas, then lunch fun with Ann Marcum AND coffee with Lowell Franko, then a fantastic party and a freakin’ blast with Doug Hazelman, then a big Bob Evans gigglefest with Erica Blasdel all leading up to a grand ol’ time at Starbucks with Angela Siefer this morning. WHEW! Tell me the last time you had a week like THAT – and that’s just mentioning the fun I had with new people! Had some fun with old (ahem Matt Lydy) people, too!

A few weeks (and possibly months depending on how many people I can exploit for log publicity – eerrrrr… I mean…. how many people I can get to meet me! JUST KIDDING ABOUT THE FIRST ;-]) remain and I know that at the end of this, I will be a better person. And have a much larger and more fantastic network in Central Ohio.

OH – and to almost everyone I’ve met this week who said at least one possibly risque thing that I swore I was going to include in this post — JUST KIDDING!

This week’s LOLCheryl picture courtesy of, and featuring, Doug Hazelman