Monday, March 26, 2012

One on One with Teddy Burriss

It was a hot sunny day when I entered Starbucks on Wednesday March 21st. As I was contemplating what I will order when I get to Starbucks, my diet told me no fufu drinks, stick with green tea but my body told me Caffeine!!! I was also anxious to meet Teddy Burriss, who will be speaking at NC PMI Triad’s April chapter meeting on networking. I found out about Teddy from a friend couple of months ago and I instantly followed him on Twitter. I really enjoyed his tweets and especially his blog, “Are you listening to me.”

After I ordered by soy latte (yes..I cheated), I sat down to have a one on one conversation with Teddy. My first question was –Do you work??? I see Teddy post on twitter all day long and checking in at various places around Triad using four square – I really was curious as to how he was able to make a career out of networking and leveraging social media. Here are some highlights of our discussion:

In my long life of 29 years :), I’ve had an opportunity to network with a lot of people. I have good radar when it comes to a fake networker – who is sparking a conversation because they need something from you. I also know when someone is truly genuine. Teddy is all about finding, developing, and nurturing relationships. At our April chapter meeting, he will go over why it is critical to give before you ask when it comes to networking and the power of the statement: “How can I help?”

Teddy has a very interesting background. I knew I liked him when I found out he comes from a technology background (Sometimes us tech geeks have to stick together). Seven years ago, he was working for an organization selling technology. He was asked to make cold calls – Teddy’s answer – there is a better way. He found Linked In in 2007 and enjoyed connecting with various people. He left his job and pursued his passion of helping people. He teaches social media and assists any customer facing employees or business to leverage networking and social media to their advantage.

After meeting Teddy, I’m ecstatic about listening him discuss networking for mutual benefit. With having over 500+ connections on Linked In and over 700 followers on Twitter (which is very difficult as I only have about 60+), he has truly mastered the art of networking for mutual benefit. To register for NC PMI Triad's April Chapter meeting, please register here

Monday, March 5, 2012

One on One with Anthony Reed

Anthony Reed has over 30 years in project management and executive positions. His area of expertise is implementing multi-million dollar, international business applications. The business, IT, travel, and sports publications which have featured him include the PMI Today, Dallas Morning News, Runner’s World, Ebony, Southern Living, and the Journal of Accountancy. His latest book is Running to Leadership: What Finishing 100+ Marathons On All Seven Continents Teaches Us About Success. Anthony is one of about 300 people in the world who finished 26.2-mile marathons on all of the continents, including Antarctica. Anthony shows how he fuses marathon risk taking and endurance with project management strategies to motivate global teams through difficult projects. I had an opportunity to speak with Anthony Reed last week about his background and what will we expect at our March meeting and seminar. Click here to read more about Anthony Reed