Thanks for a great Wordcamp Houston 2010!

Matt Mullenweg CEO of WordPress
Photo thanks to Ed Schipul

This weekend marked the very first Wordcamp Houston event at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.   As well as being a Community Sponsor, the Schipulites were active participants as coordinators, speakers, volunteers and excitable (what’s new?!) attendees.

Houston Museum of Natural Science
Photo thanks to Ed Schipul

Didn’t get to make it this year and wondering what you missed?   Here are some of the highlights of the day at HMNS, in the Schipulites’ own words:

David Stagg at  Wordcamp Houston 2010
Photo thanks to Brett Morrison

David Stagg (who taught the swell WP 101 class)

I was honored to be given the chance to speak; it was a pleasure leading the WP 101 class, setting up Monica (aka Cosmopolitician) and Chris Everson—two incredibly talented people—for the 102 class. I felt honored to teach some new people from the Houston Zoo, Noah’s Kitchen, Reliant Energy all about how user-friendly WordPress truly is. The class was lively, had some great questions, and was genuinely curious about how to further their WordPress knowledge. Since it was the inaugural WPCamp Houston and it sold out quickly, I can only imagine what it will look like next year!

Albert Hughes

My thoughts:

  • Kelsey Ruger is a genius and I heard a lot of people agreeing with that statement.
  • I saw several people including Matt Mullenweg wearing ‘toe shoes”
thisisnotapril's shark
Photo thanks to April Kkyle

April Kyle
I really enjoyed having HMNS at the host. It was such a neat backdrop for us; and as part of being there I personally was exposed to things in the museum I’d never seen before. In the break times and lunch; we got a chance to play around a bit and have some fun’ totally cool for breaks as opposed to had we been in just a conference center or hotel. It was just super neat seeing the kids learning, and we played around with the exhibits too. Plus, there was a shark.

Eloy and Matt Mullenweg at Wordcamp Houston 2010
Photo thanks to Eloy Zuniga

Eloy Zuniga
My favorite moment was sitting next to Matt Mullenweg during a session simply because I said “I saved you a seat”.   He is ridiculously nice and humble.   I’m glad he’s a Houstonian.

Derek Key and Susan Saurage photo by Ed Truitt
Photo thanks to Ed Truitt

Derek Key (who led a great panel with client Susan Saurage)
My favorite sessions from WordCamp were Kelsey‘s ‘Rebirth of Slick” and Bill Erickson’s ‘WordPress Beyond Blogging”. Kelsey’s was incredibly fun as always and made me think about websites in general, not necessarily WordPress, and Bill’s was very informative and relatable to what we do for clients.

I think the two biggest takeaways are:

  1. Shopify‘ ecommerce solution for WordPress that can be easily updated graphically to match a site and is easy to manage on the client’s end (from Roby Fitzhenry’s session)
  2. Custom post types and custom taxonomies in WordPress (from Bill Erickson’s session). Allows for more than just pages and posts so you can actually call different content different names… very Drupal-esque.
HMNS IMAX theater for Wordcamp Houston keynote
Photo thanks to Ed Schipul

Michael Coppens (from his @urbanhoustonian Twitter account)

Not sure how I didn’t know WordPress founder @photomatt is from Houston. Makes it a perfect home for Urban Houstonian

 

Wordcamp Houston 2010 at HMNS
Photo thanks to Erin Flis!

Chris Minor (our fearless intern and videographer)

My favorite session was Kelsey Ruger‘s presentation about design called ‘Rebirth of Slick”. Kelsey weaved his valuable insight into designing a website with a multimedia experience featuring music like hip-hop and jazz that made his presentation not only enjoyable but relevant and understandable in our society. WordCamp was also the first time I have been exposed to a real-time Twitter conversation. Many times I found myself staring at my twitter feed watching all the participants sharing what they were learning and I gained valuable brain-candy from the many passionate developers and users of WordPress.

Katrina Esco
The major takeaway I got from Wordcamp:  We understand things in story so we should be able to tell a meaningful story about a brand or company.

Christine Portillo

Kelsey Ruger’s preso was a highlight, and in a slide asking audience which of many companies listed had the ‘cool factor,” Schipul client IKEA was one of the few (along with Virgin Airlines, Zappos, and more). Best PHYSICAL takeaways: nifty, comfy, stylin’ T designed by Ben G and boasting Schipul on the arm and the bounteous bags of M&Ms provided by the blogger track’s ‘Whose blog is it anyway?” session.

Boss Blog of the Month: Nataliedee.com baby!

Boss [baws, bos]

-adjective
1. exemplifies a unique quality; awesome; incredible
2.   An expression from the mid 1950s, which fell from favor by the early 1960s….until now...

When I was introduced to Natalie Dee, I wanted to hug her. Granted, we were not formally introduced and to digress from creepy status, I can tell you one thing – she is a satirical comic genius who totally digs Wu Tang.

I bet you want to hug her now too.

Nataliedee.com has become my daily affirmations – not necessarily by definition. Through her comics she expresses her real life encounters, vulnerabilities, conversations and of course, her addiction to diet coke. Browsing through her unique art you may even think to yourself, “maybe I’m not the only one with a screw loose…there really is someone else who enjoys Turban Tuesday.”

And over the past couple of years, I have come to realize that her comics serve a dual purpose. Because Natalie Dee is seemingly well rounded, her comics come in handy for any and all human exchanges (use of comic’s impact is likely greater if you are at a loss for words). I have created real fictional instances below in hopes that you will recognize why Natalie Dee is so BOSS.

Are you in an altercation?

Instead of lying down like a coward in the fetal position, use this little gem.   Your nemesis will walk away out of mere confusion. This is also an ideal time to holler, ‘Booyah!”

Do you own a cat?

Me either. So if you find yourself surrounded by cat lovers in deep conversation about LOLz…attempt to relate.


Did your sister-in-law just get pregnant?

Nothing will express your excitement more than a rainbow.

Are you running late for work?

Turtles are slow’ how could your boss ever refute that one?

Are you awkward?

This one is great for the time you held the door open for a complete stranger and they proceeded to call you ‘awkward.” You turn-around and you show them awkward…

Not into politics?

There will never be a winner of a political debate held down the street at your local pub…until you prance in the door.

Enjoy the Moutain Dew/Nerd combo?

Dew the dew bra! That’s all I really have to say about this one.

Did you make a bad decision?

While explaining the situation to your parents, ease the mood with a cupcake. Hey, it could always be worse…

Overwhelmed by technology trends?

No need to worry your pretty little head about it. Reply to the office email about iPhone 4 discrepancies with this farcical treasure’ Nutella does wonders my friends.

Do you like adorable creatures?

When saying it in words won’t do you justice, this princess works for all occasions.

Want more Natalie Dee?

Like her on Facebook

Follow her on Twitter

Say hi to her friends over at Toothpaste for Dinner, Married to the Sea and Superpoop

Buy her prints on a T-shirt

Trend Tuesday: Comment SPAM gets Tricky

We’ve all come across email SPAM, but that is only where the annoyance begins. If you have a blog, a website that takes comments, or even a contact form, then you have probably seen some SPAM there, too. It used to be easy to identify, but  spammers  are becoming craftier at their game. Learn how you can fight back.

SPAM stacks up
SPAM can pile up in your blog. Learn how to get rid of it.

Why people Spam

Before diving into the problem of comment SPAM, I’d like to answer this question: Why do people SPAM? The biggest purpose of comment SPAM is SEO-related. One of the things Google and the others factor into their algorithms is linkbacks. A linkback is any link from an external site back to your website. In many comment forms on blogging platforms there is an option to include a website, which is then linked to your name when you leave a comment. This is a way of telling people who it is that is leaving the comment. Spammers use this opportunity to link to trashy SPAM websites that make pennies per visitor. If they rank higher in the search engines for keywords like “free viagra”, they can drive more traffic and make more pennies. Pennies turn into dollars which turn into Benjamins, and you get the picture. However, this doesn’t work very well for the spammers.

While most of the blogging platforms include comments and do send links, they include a little piece of code that prevents linkbacks. It’s called a “nofollow” link. It tells Google not to count a link as a linkback. Google doesn’t follow the link, so that website isn’t given any benefit. It’s an optional setting, but it is turned on for professional blogs as well as Blogger.com and WordPress.com hosted blogs. We don’t use nofollow links on this blog so that we can pass along benefits to our commenters. However, spammers don’t know that we do this, and they don’t seem to care much either way. Even with nofollow links, the spammers will still attack your site. Now that we know the why, lets look into the “what” of comment SPAM.

What Comment SPAM looks like

Most people can identify the obvious SPAM very quickly. It is riddled with links to ED drugs or other  pharmaceuticals, or in some cases it is written in Russian. This kind of SPAM is automated by the spammers and can be caught by filters. The other types of SPAM are much harder to identify. They look more like real comments. Here is an example (the link doesn’t work):

From Investment Ideas: Great Post! I stumble by this blog from Google and your content really speaks to me. You are an expert in your field and this post is proof. I am now subscribing to read more.

At first glance this looks like a very nice comment. It is probably one you would be proud to have at the bottom of your posts. Unfortunately, it is SPAM. The “name” of the commenter is used as a keyword to create a linkback to the URL, which in this case is also about investment ideas. The text sounds very nice, but it would probably sound very nice on any of your posts. These types of comments have a few things in common, and you can become a pro at identifying it and removing it.

How to Identify and Stop SPAM

Unfortunately, this kind of SPAM is not caught by the filters because it looks genuine. In many cases it is even entered by a real person (often overseas). They copy/paste a snippet on many sites as fast as possible. But, you can spot it when moderating your comments. Here is three-item test to identify the tricky SPAM:

  1. The name looks like a description and not really a person’s name. In the example, it is Investment Ideas.
  2. The link goes to a site very similar to the name. It may also include several hyphens, which are sometimes used in spam URLs.
  3. The text of the comment is very generic. It doesn’t reference anything in the post and can probably apply to almost any of your posts.

Those three quick tests can help you to identify most comment SPAM. After reviewing the fake comment above, you will see that it includes all three of the regular pieces of SPAM comments. You may come across some comments that just say “Great Post!”. To determine if these are SPAM you should pay close attention to the name and link. If it is a person’s name and goes to a personal site or blog (like JMO), then it is probably not SPAM.

You will have to use your own discretion when deciding which comments are SPAM on your blog. Comments are great places to have a bit of further discussion about posts. They can add to the “conversation” in many cases, so blocking SPAM is even more important to keep the conversation fluid. While comment SPAM can’t hurt you directly, it can look ugly on your blog.

While some sites have turned off comments all together to prevent this, you may still want to keep comments on your site. Using nofollow links can help prevent the spammers from gaining anything with their garbage, but it will still pile up in the back and can clutter your real comments. Moderating your comments regularly and having a keen eye for SPAM can protect your site from the evils of comment SPAM.

UPDATE:

I have decided it to let the SPAM comments show up on this post so you can see some examples of what we get. I will neuter them by removing the link, but the text and name of the commenter will be left alone (unless it’s profane). Our first winner is “Affiliate Network”.

UPDATE 2:

Many more SPAM comments have rolled in to the mix. I’ve removed links on all of them, but the text gives you an idea of what they may look like on your site.

Awesome SPAM creative commons image thanks to freezelight.

Trend Tuesday: Talk to me and win a shirt!

Ah, the Blog Contest. Who doesn’t love a good blog contest. You may be think from the title and first words (and perhaps the by line) that this will be a bit of biting criticism calling out the blog industry for selling it self short. Or perhaps you think it is ridiculous self promotion for our current blog contest. Well, this is neither. It is the perspective of those two people who can agree on one thing: Blog Contests work!

One of the values at Schipul is Win/Win. This means that in an interaction or agreement or business-dealing, both sides walk away feeling like they have gained something. When we do work for our clients, we earn their business, and in turn they are provided with a service they need. The Blog Contest is, on most scales, a true example of Win/Win.

The Blog owner can be seeking PR, attention, an urge for traffic, or perhaps they just have extra stuff. To accomplish their goal, they can utilize traditional advertising, but this does not always help them reach their audience in a fun and interesting way. Even online advertising can be a poor fit for the audience or the budget. The flexibility of the Blog Contest allows you to give away pretty much anything, from a Wii Fit to netbooks to cat T’s.

From the reader perspective, generally very little is asked of you. Leave a funny comment, become a fan on facebook, mention something on twitter, etc. Much of the time your odds of winning are quite good compared to a business card fishbowl or a clearing house sweepstakes. And generally there is a high amount of transparency in seeing who wins. Unless a contest gets out of hand (see Wii Fit above), then the contest is contained to the community of people who read the blog, with maybe a few outsiders who are just around for the contest.

Even after a winner is announced, many great things have happened. Either a new reader has won something, which may keep them coming back as a reader, or an old reader has won something, which rewards them for being a part of the conversation. Attention is gained at a cost (like all advertising), but in this case the readers profit, not an Ad agency. Aside from some twitter contests which can be quite annoying (i.e. planet-orbiting-berry), the old-fashioned blog contest is a Win/Win event.

In all seriousness, these contests are really good for everyone and are turning into a great advancement in online economics. The scale of costs and attention help to create a happy event for all involved. A small giveaway creates a small burst of traffic, and giving away something large can create bigger waves on the internets. As a blog creator, you control the size and expense. As a blog contestant, you can control what contests you enter, and what is worth your time/attention/info. Everyone remains in control, traffic goes up, and someone is a winner.

In the words of Michael Scott, this is Win/Win/Win. One Win for the blogger, one Win for the contestants, and a Win for me for explaining it here and encouraging you to create a blog contest. There’s another Win too if you follow me on twitter, because all of my followers are winners.

Trend Tuesday: Still Waiting til the Last Minute?

(I realize this was published later than normal.   It is part of the story.   Welcome again to another crazy JMO post.)

In the blogging world, many people teach that having posts on a regular schedule is the way to create a readership.   But this is only half of the message.   It leaves out the ‘quality’ part.   To have a successful blog, there should be a regular stream of quality posts to feed a readership.   Here is a quick list on how to have a great blog.

  1. Make a blog. (wordpress is good)
  2. Set a regular schedule you can maintain.
  3. Write a QUALITY Post.
  4. Click Publish.
  5. Repeat 3 and 4 based on 2.

Ok, so that probably isn’t the Top 5 list you were hoping to see.   Too bad, because that’s really all there is to it.

In writing this post I was almost guilty of overlooking Step 3.   When you title your blog post Trend Tuesday, you are setting yourself up for a pretty hard deadline.   And Tuesday is almost gone.   Should I just hit Publish now?   Probably not, as I haven’t finished my story yet.   So, why am I not done yet?   I’ve got some great excuses.

  1. I haven’t reached the deadline yet
  2. I work better at the last minute
  3. It wasn’t a high priority

I haven’t hit the deadline.   For this excuse, I am really blaming the deadline.   Unfortunately, deadlines have a tendency to backfire.   A week ago we set a deadline to have a new Trend Tuesday blog post done by Tuesday.   I had a whole week to get it done.   But really, by giving myself a deadline of Tuesday, I committed to doing it on Tuesday.   Because this is due in a week, it ranks behind other tasks, until Tuesday that is.   Now it is on top of the heap, but it is almost too late.   Way to avoid this: set earlier deadlines, or, if you can, do things immediately. Think of the deadline as less of a due date and more of a time to actually do it.

And anyways, I work better at the last minute.   Because at the last minute, there is added stress and pressure.   And I work great under pressure.   NOT.   At the last minute, I am forced to get things done.   Not to make them right, or even above average. And certainly not to make them spectacular.   But they do get done.   Had I made my deadline, you would have stopped reading after the Top 4 list.   That is what is produced by someone who works better at the last minute.   Way to avoid this: set standards for quality. For this post, it could be the words, time spent on it, or links.   Or it could be that I got 5 other people excited after they read it.

But the real reason I didn’t finish on time is that this wasn’t a high priority.   Unfortunately, task managers and to-do lists have this annoying priority system built in with 1-5’s and stars and red flags, etc.   I think priority is really a boolean, or an on/off switch.   Something is a priority, or it isn’t. Merlin Mann agrees, or really, I agree with him.   But when I first learned of this task, I said this wasn’t a high priority. But if this isn’t a high priority, then why am I not done yet?   It is superseded by a real priority.

The real priority is that when I publish something with my name on it, it has to be my best effort. This is the priority.   This is Step 3 above.   And this is what makes great bloggers, writers, designers, and all creators.   When I first started this, under the deadline, rushing it out, it was about 200 words of garbage.   I’ve since deleted all of that, and written all of this.   While some may argue that I was just lazy and procrastinated and that’s why this wasn’t finished, I’d have to disagree.   I set myself up for failure when I did the following:

  1. I   made a deadline that was the absolute last minute I needed to finish.
  2. I did not make this a priority.
  3. I did not start until close the deadline because this wasn’t a priority.
  4. I lied to myself about my abilities to do quality work quickly.

All of these things caused me to miss the all important Step 3.   Fortunately, the place I work is smart enough to recognize that a quality post that is late is much better than a weak post on time.   Hopefully the readers if this blog and yours are also flexible.

Recap:

  1. Set deadlines before things are really due, or just do them immediately.
  2. Don’t wait til the last minute.   Your work is not better when you do.
  3. Make quality stuff (which should be on time if you follow the first two).

Hopefully the trend of waiting til the last minute will fade like Will Smith’s hair on Fresh Prince.

Boss Blog of the Month: Bumper 2 Bumper Traffic Blog

1trafficBoss [baws, bos]
-adjective

  1. exemplifies a unique quality; awesome; incredible
  2. An expression from the mid 1950s, which fell from favor by the early 1960s….until now..

Bro, traffic blew this morning…I was 20 minutes late to work and missed donut circle time. Dude, go check out the Bumper 2 Bumper Traffic Blog, it’s so boss!

My mornings are not your typical ‘wake up, drink coffee, sit on your thrown reading a nice article about ‘Why we swing our arms when we walk‘” routine. They usually entail a Sprite on the rocks, Quaker oatmeal, and…(queue harmonious music)…KPRC’s traffic updates brought to by Jennifer Reyna. To be quite honest, I don’t really care much about traffic, my morning drive is pretty ordinary with the familiar stoplight hobo and occasional rubber necking. Basically, it comes down to the simple fact that Jennifer Reyna is so gosh darn adorable and an hour on the ol’ boob tube just ain’t cuttin’ it anymore. But I have found the light…

Jennifer Reyna’s Bumper 2 Bumper Traffic Blog is seemingly mundane, but I stand true to my word when I say this is a must-read. And I think you know where I am going with this.   That’s right my tiny cupcakes, the Boss Blog of the month is every Houstonian’s greatest foe…traffic.

This recent “find” if you will, is what I like to call a boss moment. I could equivocate this to the time your beloved Harry Potter obsessed monkey friend literally dragged you to opening night of H.P.’s latest flick, in turn leaving you with a little obsession of your own…Hermoine Granger. In a nutshell, the movie is the traffic and Jennifer Reyna is Hermoine…now you’re with me folks!

So what makes a blog about traffic so special? Go ahead and pump those breaks champ…I am going to tell you.

Here are my Top 5 Reasons why Jennifer Reyna’s Bumper 2 Bumper Traffic Blog is the Boss Blog of the Month:

  1. I really don’t have to say much here…
    Jennifer Reyna
  2. It’s rare to find true passion in a human being, much less through a traffic blog. The Bumper 2 Bumper blog exhibits just that…passion. With every post, you know Jennifer is writing from the heart. Hell, I bet she sits at her computer singing The Beatles and yelling out random sayings like, Skittleeedooo!, just because she is that happy. To be honest, I find it quite enjoyable to read about Goat Milking Contests…
    goat-_-blog4
  3. Jennifer posts pictures from just about every event she attends. I realize that posting pictures on your blog is nothing new, but for a reporter, it’s good to show people you are actually human. Like I have said before, I just don’t trust robots and neither should you if you know what’s good for your children.
  4. 2-crew-parade-_-blog
    She listens. Every few posts, she takes questions that she has received from her viewers and answers them openly and honestly.

    Dear Jennifer,

    Could you please tell me why we swing our arms when we walk? Also, thank you for being you.

    Sincerely,

    Courtney P.

    I will be crossing my fingers for a response in the meantime.

  5. Jennifer has obviously realized that KPRC is not just a TV station. It is a media outlet. She has enabled viewers, like me who are unable to watch a lot of television, to receive information through her blog. She has also built an extraordinary brand through her Bumper 2 Bumper blog and that is definitely something to be modeled. Jennifer Reyna is not only an inspiration to the Houston community, but she has made my morning commutes a little more enjoyable. Jennifer Reyna…you’re boss.

Say hi to Jennifer on Facebook!

Thank you Kim Yokota for the awesome traffic pic!

Safety Month: Hurricane and weather Blogs to know

accuweather_hurricanetracking

Ah hurricanes, they’re not just for sipping on in New Orleans .   If you’re in a hurricane-effected area like we are (in Gulf Coast neighboring Houston!), you’ve probably already been talking about the possible rains, winds and candle lit evenings ahead with neighbors, family and co-workers.

With that in mind, here are a few of our favorite hurricane and weather blogs – that’s right, we geek out on weather too:

The WeatherMatrix (one of many Accuweather.com Blogs)
You can really tell when a Blogger is passionate about his subject matter and Jesse is SERIOUS about weather.   One big bonus on The WeatherMatrix’s Blog is that it’s not only packed with tips, national weather updates galore – it’s always full of gorgeous weather-related visuals, photos and projections.      If the WeatherMatrix Blog isn’t enough for you, there is also an entire WeatherMatrix community for weather enthusiasts.

WunderBlog
Weather Underground’s co-founder Jeff Masters writes up the world’s weather as he sees it.   Twisters, climate change and more.   Perhaps what’s even more interesting than Jeff’s posts are the incredible number of comments and intensely focused contributions from www.wunderground.com members.

WeatherBlog for ABC13
While this is technically a local Houston weather Blog, you’ll find all sorts of great weather-focused posts on topics like the Saffir-Simpson Scale re-vamping, hurricane workshops and NASA-TV.   Great weather brain candy.

Cloudy and Cool
Meteorologist Paul Yeager unleashes his weather brain power on this great Blog, featuring everything from 2009 hurricane season predictions to commentary on global warming to reminiscing on impactful weather events from his career.

Where do you get your weather fix?   Be sure to comment on our Schipul Book Club post this week for a chance to win an emergency kit and a copy of The Survivor’s Club.

Image above thanks to Jesse – every single hurricane worldwide from 1851 to 2007, colored by intensity when known.   Visualization at its finest!

Boss Blog of the Month: Neurofibromatosis Cafe

Boss [baws, bos]

Reggie Bibbs
Reggie Bibbs


-adjective
1. exemplifies a unique quality; awesome; incredible
2.   An expression from the mid 1950s, which fell from favor by the early 1960 until now.
Hey dude, do you know Reggie Bibbs? I heard his blog is so boss.

As I stand sit here, amongst a sea of people, adorning my wizards’ cloak and wand, I feel the need to rise up…for today marks the start of something glorious! No, they have not finally captured the French Big Foot named Clouseau and put him on display in Canada. Come on dude. This friends, is the beginning of a new era…a place where bloggers can be exalted for a job well done. A place where I can sit here every month and say…This Blog is So Boss.

Like all historic revolutions, I must start out with a bang followed by a little pow. Hell, let’s throw in a 540 tornado kick, landing in a roundout back flip – blindfolded. It’s true, some blogs just have that affect on people, and ninja moves aside, I am honored to feature a local Houston blog, ‘Neurofibromatosis Cafe as the boss blog of the month.

So what you’re saying is there’s a new place in town for coffee and tweet-ups? Coffeegroundz what? Unfortunately no but there is a man named Reggie Bibbs.   Reggie was born with neurofibromatosis (NF) which is a genetic disease that causes him to develop tumors on his body. He began this blog, along with long-time friend Lou Congelio, president of STANANDLOU Advertising, to spread the word of NF.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Reggie and it became one of those moments where you think to yourself…so this is what life is all about. His passion and spirit were infectious as he spoke about what his blog has provided for people.

‘I believe my blog has helped others to realize that things aren’t as bad as they seem. If I am out and happy with my problems, then others should be to. It is an encouragement to people with NF and without NF.

So how did Reggie’s blog become what it is today? Reggie explained to me that it was after his brother, Ronald, lost his life to NF that he was not going to let anyone else go through what his family had to endure. Teaming up with Lou, they created the Just Ask T-shirts

‘I had the shirts made so people would ASK when they saw me. People wanted to know, but I felt like they didn’t know how to ask. After the shirts, Lou suggested a blog to write about my experiences.

And as they says the rest is history.

The Just Ask campaign went on to win 2 gold ADDY awards, one silver, and a Special Judges Award for Public Service Advertising. I would never claim to be an advertising genius, or a pro unicorn jouster for that matter, but I do know that the Just Ask ads were absolutely spectacular and the well earned recognition could not have happened to a better guy that’s you chief.

Reggie is also lucky enough to have Lou, along with two other of his close friends, William and Matt contribute to the blog. These guys have not only helped document Reggie’s experiences but they have played a huge part in bringing NF to the forefront.

‘These guys mean the world to me. Without them, I would not be able to do what I do. They are the friends that encourage me to get out there and do things. When Lou talked me into going to the Astros game, it was something I will never forget. It was a full house everyone was so nice to me and because I took that step, I felt like I could go other places.

No doubt about it, Reggie has definitely become the man about town. Through his blog posts, you can see what an impact Reggie is making in the community. He has spoken across the country for other NF Foundations where his most recent trip was to Grand Rapids next stop Canada. Here’s a fun fact: I am a ninja and can fit in medium-sized suitcases; specifically designed to fly to Canada I’m just sayin’.

When he is not traveling, you can see him at the Houston Roller Derby, meeting with political figures, chummin’ it up with Kevin Nealon, starting the dance revolution at Music Nites really, the list goes on and to be quite honest, I’m not yearning for carpal tunnel anytime soon so I will bid adieu. But before I ‘do I want to leave you with one final thought from a man who used something as simple as a blog to create a movement and therefore inspire others to simply be thankful.

‘People who have NF come to my blog to read my stories and learn that even if you have NF, you can still live a full life. They see that I have learned that most people will understand the ones that don’t, that’s ok. Think about the people that have accepted you. Reggie Bibbs

Other Ways to Connect with Boss-Blogger Reggie Bibbs:

Reggie Bibbs-Neurofibromatosis Flickr stream

Visit Reggie Bibbs on Facebook

*The photo was apart of the award-winning ads recognized at the 2009 ADDY Awards.

Thanks again Reggie! You truly are an inspiration.