5 ways apps & social media changed my life… this week

I was wondering just how much influence social media and phone apps had on me, on a daily basis, so I decided to reflect on its role in the past seven days.

I’ve been working with a client I found on Thumbtack. Probably not the usual type of work one looks for and finds on this app, but I’ve been seeing quite a few requests for all kinds of marketing consulting. I found one of my current clients back in December, just after I’d first signed up. I’m working with them on a nine month project now so I’m pleased to say that this particular app has helped me a great deal!

I wished the CEO of a hot NY start-up happy birthday on Facebook. So what, you may ask? Well, I’m proud to say I’ve known Ted since he graduated from college. He came to work for me for his first job, where I had the privilege of teaching him what an inbox was (remember those?) and how to do marketing.

From working with me, he moved to marketing for Lincoln Center and from there to his 2009 startup, Dataminr. Take a look at their model, which is a brilliant example of harnessing the power of Twitter and recognizing market trends for financiers. Pretty cool stuff.

Met my friend at a diner I found on Yelp. Not that I believe every review I read – no one should be that naïve. But it was clear from the majority of posts that this was a good place for us to meet and we’d be able to have a relaxing conversation and eat whatever we wanted (in standard diner fare). And I was right! Thanks, Athenian. We’ll be back.

Found a new business connection via Twitter. I liked one of his tweets, went to his profile which led me to his website. When I realized he lives in my hometown I thought it would be a great opportunity to connect IRL (in real life) so I filled out a “contact me” form and voila! We exchanged emails and met at Starbucks to connect. I’m pleased to have met him and look forward to connecting further via my local AMA group.

As if that wasn’t enough, I realized that I found my Valentine through LinkedIn. Wasn’t what you were expecting, was it? Me, neither. He and I have known each other since we were teenagers – but grew up in different countries (Sweden/U.S.) – and went to different schools. Until we met up again at business school. When LinkedIn started to gain ground I joined and reached out to connect with all my B-school colleagues, including him. Years later, we reconnected – for networking purposes – but were hit by cupid’s arrow, you might say. And we’ve been together (for the most part) ever since.

Now that I’ve shared mine think about yours. How have social media and apps changed your world lately?

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