Jan 15

Relationships Matter!

Networking, Social Media No Comments »

I was reading an awesome blog post by entrepreneur Penelope Trunk when it literally slapped me in my consciousness:   Relationships matter!  Now before you even try to say “Duh” and close this post, that statement is undeniably deeper than what it appears.

I saw Avatar in IMAX 3D last weekend.  (If you haven’t seen it, I will try to just pick up on the underlying theme and not the movie plot.  To digress just a little, the movie was AWESOME.  James Cameron did an outstanding job with this movie and I am sure it will be in the hearts and minds of all that have seen it for a long time to come.)  But what simply “grabbed” me and most people who saw the movie was how beautiful, simple, and intriguing life would be to live on the planet of Pandora!   Relationship is one of the basic underlying themes in the movie along with using relationships to belong.  I truly believe this is why people stumble away from the theaters in amazement.  They are baffled by the simplicity and beauty of how the relational aspects encountered in the movie were basic life fundamentals (along with the astounding 3D effects).  These fundamentals are not followed on Earth—in reality—to the extent that they are in Pandora although they could be.  But what a minute—isn’t social media networking modeled to enhance and create relationships?!

I’ve figured it out!  Our need to be engaged with social media technology is a way for us to gain, cultivate, and create RELATIONSHIPS!  It goes so much deeper than finding a job or voicing an opinion or simply just “being”.  We are relational beings and using the many social media options and avenues allow us to “relate” to each other on levels never even obtained before.  The needs to communicate, explore, and expand “our horizons” are satisfied.  And most importantly, we are able to LEARN from each other.

Relationship is defined as “a connection, association, or involvement.”   We all have the need to belong—to be a member or part of something.  We all want to share our beliefs and opinions and feel that we really matter.  It’s not just “who you know” and “what you know” but sharing both of these concepts in a relational way to others.  Networking.  Real networking in its purest form.

It’s so much more than gaining thousands of followers on Twitter, having hundreds of connections on LinkedIn, or hundreds of friends on Facebook just so you can say you have a large following.  It’s about RELATING to those followers, connections, and friends.  If the relational aspect is taken away, what does it matter?

I’m so glad I saw Avatar and if you haven’t seen it yet, make it a point to.  It’s awakened so many things in me especially knowing that each person that I know, have known, or will know relationally matters to me.  I hope after reading this you will share in my passion of truly making all of the relationships you have matter.

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Dec 29

The Social Media Branding Revolution

Personal Branding, Social Media No Comments »

A year ago, I was completely “anti-social media”.  Yes, I am willing to openly admit to that shortcoming.  Sure, I frequented a forum or two on various interests—anonymously—not willing to contribute.  However, my reasons were strictly based on watching “To Catch a Predator” on Dateline NBC, having teenage children, and online personal sites.   You see, I had only really looked at the bad side of social media.  Of course, EVERYTHING nowadays can be exploited for bad but when you have children, the natural parental instinct goes into effect (even if you are technically savvy with capabilities to block sites from your children).  Not only that, but I associated social media as a way and means for people to “hook up” sort of like match.com or some other type of online personals.  Therefore, with these two factors added to my already pigeon-holed perception of any type of information technology outside of Information Security, I was completely stymied!

Social media is so important to establishing yourself.  I’m willing to go so far as to say that it is absolutely necessary for you to use social media as a means of personal branding.  It goes so much further than your resume, the “About Us” section to your website, or a cover letter.  I like to compare it to three-dimensionality—you see and learn more about me AND my knowledge set from various perspectives.  No one should proclaim to know it all.  Yes, we have our niches and our expertise areas.  However, social media isn’t just about claiming your expertise.  It’s about putting YOUR own spin and flavor to your niche, expertise, and what you know.

This is definitely old news to a lot of the social media and personal branding experts out there now.  But for those of us who have finally caught wind of this form of expression, it is by far a whole new exciting world!  The one thing I can say is that it truly matters to be personable and just being yourself.  I will finish out this post with a tweet I had posted earlier today,

“Personal branding is simple:  It’s you instinctively!  Your personal brand is instinctively YOU!”

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Dec 20

Branding: Don’t Compromise Who You Are!

Personal Branding, Social Media No Comments »

This is near and dear to my heart!  This morning, I was reading an article by Heather Huhman called, “5 Rules for Maintaining Your Brand Once You Have the Job”. Step number 5 states:  Don’t compromise your brand for your new employer.  This isn’t a jab at employers by any means.  But it is about not forsaking who you are and forgetting what you originally brought to the table at your place of employment.

To talk about my own personal experiences, I’ve been in this situation, unfortunately.  I’ve been so absorbed into a job where I have completely forgot who I was.  I became adaptable to the corporate culture and other tasks not associated with my brand and lost myself, thus, becoming ineffective.  It’s almost like a deep sleep!

With the new age of social media, I think that it is easier to stay who you are.   You stay accountable.   In fact, you are highly unlikely to veer away from your brand because your reputation is at stake—your brand is at stake.  For example, as I blog about who I am and what I know, I am establishing ME!  The corporations, businesses, consultants, and people that I work with now and in the future will want my skill set for ME!

It is possible to be loyal to your employer; however, it’s even more important to not lose yourself.  Losing yourself spells out compromise for you and your brand.  This compromise will then cause your credibility to be questionable.

Don’t lose who you are!  Don’t compromise yourself!  Be unique, yourself, and maintain your brand!

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Dec 17

Who is Jeri Brown?

Motivation, Personal Branding, Social Media, Technology 2 Comments »

Who am I?  Well, that’s a good question!  As I have been struggling as to what my first blog post would be about, I thought the best idea would be an intriguing introduction so that you are able to get to know me.

I’ve always disliked the saying statement at job interviews, “So, tell me a little bit about yourself.”  I never know where to start.  Obviously, the requester wants to know about my professional experience so I will start there.  I’ve been consumed in the information technology world for quite some time.  Believe it or not, my first appeal to computers was back in middle school when I signed up for an after school program on beginner’s programming.  Back then, our task was to create a functional computer game using the BASIC language.  I even remember the name of my game:  Ranger Bob.  I chose Bob because it was easy to program the B-O-B visually!

Some 15 years after that, I became captivated with Microsoft Windows.  I think it was Microsoft 2.0 where it ran on top of DOS.  As crazy as it may sound, I used to like to hand-draw cartoons in Microsoft Paint—by freehand using only a mouse.  I was very good at it and would take comic strips from the newspaper, bring it to my summer job, and spend the day “drawing” between doing menial admin work.  I was working in an IT office and became so curious and intrigued that I went back to school the following semester and changed my major to Computer Science.

It went uphill quite fast for a while after that.  I love to learn and information technology was second nature to me.  So I quickly went from working in a helpdesk to system and network administration and right into information security.  For a while I continued to grasp everything that came my way but these past 4 years, I’ve been in a deep “sleep”.  Sure, I became a CISSP just about 5 years ago, wrote a number of security policies, and performed a large number of challenging C&A tasks.  But what’s next?   I have achieved information assurance expertise but I did so with blinders on unaware of the current technological trends and slowly rotting with menial information security “challenges” which to me, no longer embodies the true essence of information security.

Now I am awake!!  And ready to move at top speed to the technological developments ahead.  With my new consciousness, I have shaken the title Senior Information Security Analyst and have adopted the self-proclaimed title of Technology Strategist.  Sure, the information security analyst is my day job but not what I am all about.  I just no longer want to be boxed into the information assurance/C&A “genre”.

I decided to start a blog for a few reasons:

1.  Discuss my ideas and opinions on various emerging technology trends.

I have become fascinated with Web 2.0 technology.  I feel that it has opened my eyes and has me feeling the same passion I felt when I first discovered BASIC programming some 25+ years ago.  Because I’ve been emerged in the world of certification and accreditation (C&A) for the past 7 years, I’ve been blind to its emergence and popularity.  Where have I been?!  Now that I’m enlightened (and awake), I see that there is absolutely no reason why the various platforms of social media shouldn’t be used in our everyday lives to include business.  Look at twitter and facebook.  Need I say more?

2.  Discuss information security and how I see it in the workplace.

Information Security is my forte so to speak.  I’ve been particularly submerged in information assurance and certification and accreditation.  And, not to toot my own horn, but I know my stuff.  Lately, I’ve become aggravated at being hired on as an expert with my experience and background only to be told “that’s not the way we do it here” or “do it this way”.  Why’d you hire me then if you know I bring fresh ideas, experience, and crave challenge??!!  I bring to the table insightful ideas, and yes, I play by the book when it comes to security.  If the directive says, “a, b, and c”, then, by golly, “a, b, and c” it is!  To me, it’s not rocket science.  It’s just playing by the rules.  That is what ENFORCING information security is all about—not seeing what you can get away with!  Excuse my mini-rant.  :)

I so long to be an effective, insightful information security contributor … sigh…

3.  Conquering the “web frontier”.

I feel that our society is headed more and more onto the web front.  There are a number of emerging technology trends that are making their way onto the forefront of optimal and affordable business practices.  One topic that has recently make its way to my knowledge base is cloud computing.  With Microsoft’s upcoming release of Azure, I can only see this technology being the new wave of the future.  Yes, the technology has been around but it’s a trend that I am sure many businesses will be leveraging.  I look forward to exploring this technology as well as others that are out there.

4.  Discussion and interaction.

I want to interact and discuss with my peers on what is going on in technology.  Information security, new technology trends, or anything else, I want to hear and discuss it.  Learning comes through discussions.  Sadly, it’s been quite a while since I’ve been afforded the opportunity of stimulating, intellectual conversation about technology topics with my peers.  I believe that everyone is able to add something valuable that will shape and enlighten the topic of discussion.

5.  Social media is where it’s at!

Upon waking up out of my deep non-technological slumber, social media is where it is at!  I cannot say that enough.  Wikipedia couldn’t have said it better when it states that:

“It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers.”

How awesome is that!!!  So with my ever-expanding knowledge, I plan to use social media to its fullest.  I know it hasn’t been around very long but I feel as though I have a learning curve which spells a challenge to me.  I thrive off of challenging situations when it comes to learning and solving problems so this is all right up my alley!

I hope my rants, raves, and requests for interaction will be profitable for anyone who decides to subscribe.  Learning definitely comes from sharing experiences and I certainly have a large number experiences that I would love to share as well as learn from your experiences.  My plan and my goal with this blog is to leverage information technology and information security by teaching, learning, sharing, solving, and enlightenment.

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