However I opted to step aside and let it pass me by. (Traffic schmaffic.)

When I look back and consider my time in social media in 2009, it’s not the cool marketing tools I’ve experimented with, the great content that I’ve consumed or even the new business opportunities it has created — it’s with complete humility that this anti-social curmudgeon confesses (with uncharacteristic optimism and utter embarrassment at my public display of “joie de vivre”) it’s the people I’ve met and reconnected with that made my 2009 brighter, more interactive, more professionally rewarding and, even, more entertaining.

So as I look at 2010, I hope to continue to experience all of the spectacular and unexpected side effects social media, social business and social networking put before me each and every day.

We are all of us so much more than the sum of our work and it is the people with whom we work that make the work itself more pleasant…or unpleasant.

Social business provides more consistent, personal and direct access to people we like — people we want to be around and work with — which can bring greater value and meaning to how we spend our workdays.

If you’ve interacted with me here on this blog, on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, meetup.com, blip.fm, slideshare.net, at a local Panera, at a conference, at a seminar or event, through email, on google wave, by phone, at one of my presentations, on a sailboat or through Social Gets Local… I just want to say thank you.

You have enriched my life — online and off.

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Click here to view my Ignite Baltimore #4 video on YouTube.

To begin, the Walters Art Museum proved a great venue for this event. True, the high ceilings and marble surroundings made for a literal echo chamber in ironic contrast to the virtual one often cited on Twitter, but I think it added to the grandeur of the evening and the overall ebullience of the atmosphere. (Besides, “grandeur” can be hard to come by in Baltimore, so when you come across it, you embrace it.)

First up was Betsy Gordon, a rogue museum pro who turned a question about a skateboard graphic into an art show on a world tour. Then Braddock “The Haddock” Spear chatted with us about sustainable seafood. Not sure which fish has too much mercury or whether farm-raised beats wild? Mr. Spear provided a few resources to help out:

• The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Guide
• The Blue Ocean Institute FishPhone (Text 30644 with the message FISH and the name of the fish in question. They’ll text you back with their assessment and better alternatives, if needed.)
• The Sustainable Ocean Project blog

We learned about green mapmaking from Janet Felsten and were inspired to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off by Jennifer Cohen. When Cheryl Taragin got to her slide showing the Baltimore Colts sneaking out of town in the middle of the night in her review of Baltimore’s historical moments, I heard a crowd hiss for the very first time. (I don’t get out much.)

Ryan Boddy gets an extra hat tip here because when he talked about the highly creative process of making beer — the mysterious and enchanting blend of art and science — I swear I saw a glimmer in his eye and a smile on his face that is the kind of glimmer and smile born only of a true, deep and abiding love. It may have been the spotlight in his eyes, but I’m telling you I’ve never seen a man express a deeper love for beer than this man. Don’t believe me? Go talk to Ryan for yourself. He’s over at BaltiBrew.org spreading the hops/love.

Jason Slanga, a Latin teacher in Baltimore County, killed with his lessons on how not to be a zombie. And then Shodekeh and friends Kate Porter and Ian Hesford brought down the house…er, museum…with some very cool “conversations without words” set against slides of various pieces of art.  You can give a listen to his unique hip-hop, beatbox stylings over on his MySpace page.

Adam Borden begged us to “unshackle the grapes” as he explained Maryland’s convoluted laws which prevent Marylanders from purchasing wines online or by phone from any vineyard outside of Maryland. While Maryland wines are getting better every year, Maryland houses only 38 out of the 6,500 wineries in the U.S. Just think of what our palates are missing or, better yet, take action at Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws.

Mary Spiro enlightened us on nanobiotechnology and Randy Sovich of RM Sovich Architecture looked back to 1984 to recap his look ahead to 2010. Helen Glazer, who’s looking at clouds from both sides now (borrowed that joke), shared her artist’s viewpoint of the clouds, which may further enhance our perspectives on what we see when we look up.

Kale in hand, Steven Mandzik walked us through a few simple steps for living a cleaner life and healthier eating:

• Eat quality food
• Eat 1/3 less
• Eat “real” food (the more packaging there is, the less “real” it is)
• Eat seasonal foods

Adam Meister stepped up in his tuxedo to warn us against hyper-consumerism. Consensus is he issued the quote of the night:

You don’t have to be cool. This is Baltimore.

No truer words…

To bring it all home, Tracy Gosson, @SagesseInc on Twitter, reminded us all that the fear of fear can — and should — be overcome. She asked, “What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?” And she reminded us all how vital facing our fears is to learning, growing and experiencing all that life has to offer.

It was a great night and I look forward to Ignite Baltimore #5, to be held on March 4, 2010. Want to read more about number 4? Click here to see what was said about #IB4 on Twitter.

Also might want to keep your eyes on:

• Ignite DC
• Ignite Annapolis
• Ignite Wilmington
• Ignite Philly

Or look for the Ignite event near you!

You are one rockin’ community.

This blog is focused on social media, yes…but I’ve come to realize more and more that it’s really about time — my time, your time, our collective time using social tools to communicate with each other.

So what has the year taught me about time? About blogging? About social media?

Let’s start with time:

1. It flies. I try to make the most of it by doing what I enjoy doing whenever and as often I can – at work and at play.
2. If you think there’s a faster way to do something online, there probably is — just ask someone. (Wish this had occurred to me sooner.) Or simply google it…anything you want to know is only ever just a few clicks away.
3. Social media and social technology, when used properly and with discipline, can maximize your time in 1,000 different ways, personally and professionally. But you’ve got to be willing to accommodate the time it takes for the learning curve to run its course.

What have I learned about blogging?

1. It’s bleepin’ hard (because it’s so time-consuming).
2. It’s an amazing creative outlet.
3. It’s a great way to meet new people and learn new things. I’m doing what I can to share this part of my experience through my Social Gets Local (social media case study) directory, which remains immensely important to me, even as I struggle to find the time to work on it.

And what pearls of wisdom can I share about social media as it has evolved all around me over the course of the past year?

photo by Michael Dawes via Flickr

1. Input equals output. Period. If you’re not getting anything out of your time in social media, then you either need a quick lesson on a few basic tools (you surely know someone you can ask!) or you’re simply not putting the time/effort into it. At the end of the day, what is it all about? What’s in it for you? Information. Education. (Which is why my Social Media RESOURCES page is the most visited page on my blog — people love learning new things, my list just makes finding what they want to know a bit easier.) If you have the right disposition, then you’ll earn new friendships and business connections, too. But at the very least, there is something to be learned on the social webs. Every day. I kid you not. And that’s just if you’re a regular civilian! If you’re in marketing, then it’s like being in the green room of a great wave that never closes out. Now if you’re a business owner and you haven’t dipped your toe in the water, I’m telling you, you’re missing the “opportunity boat” altogether.
2. We learn the most from our mistakes. In this case, I owe Mr. Peter Kim a thank you, (a humble and sincere thank you), for unknowingly teaching me an important online life lesson through the course of 1 tweet, 1 email and 1 phone call — lessons that have stayed with me and guided my personal social media policies and best practices ever since. Through his blog, he is also responsible for shifting my approach and thinking about social media toward social business. As a marketer, this idea remains critical to leading with and leveraging the power of the social technologies currently being developed.
3. Go online to get offline. It’s not about sitting in front of your computer every day, posting what you had for lunch to your Twitter account. The point is to move your conversations offline. Get out and about on your terms. Social media has led me to attend some great events, like the Ignite Events. (These are not your grandfather’s networking events. They’re the most fun I’ve ever had in a room full of strangers…well, unless I count that hostel in Budapest — but that’s another story altogether.) BlogPotomac was also fantastic. And, if you haven’t heard, TED is coming to Baltimore. This is HUGE! (Thanks for the head’s up Mr. D.) Because of social media, “networking” has been forever redefined for me and the bar has been irrevocably raised for “networking events” in general. The “cold call” is dead (with the social tools available to you today, you can warm almost any lead or call effectively) and the content and appeal of a networking event truly needs to skyrocket past the quality of the venue and/or the hors d’oeuvres.

It just keeps getting better.

This blog has been a remarkable tool for me, for my business, for my creativity and for networking on my terms. I have been empowered. And I love giving talks and presentations (something I would not have even considered before I started this blog) because I love watching that glimmer of empowerment light up in someone else’s eyes. When I share what I have learned with others, be it businesses or individuals, I am not ever pitching to do the work for anyone…rather, I’m teaching other people to do the work for themselves. THAT has been the biggest reward this blog has brought to my life.

With your valued support, I look forward to continuing to expand my gray matter in the years to come.

The fact is, I don’t get out much during the week. Monday through Friday is a tumbler of parenting, working full time, managing two businesses, running a household and maintaining our zoo of domesticated animals.

So when I do venture out, I have incredibly high expectations.

Repeatedly, Ignite Baltimore has delivered, as has Ignite DC. And I’m counting on nothing less than total satisfaction from Ignite Annapolis (now in early planning stages).

The palpable energy at these events lights me up every time.

Haven’t been to an Ignite event? Let me quickly tell you what it is: a cross between a stage performance, networking event, block party, lecture series, improv show and a local mixer. More specifically, it’s a collection of 15 or so people from any given city, each allotted 5 minutes on stage with 20 slides behind them that are automatically rotated every 15 seconds, ready or not.

Who are the speakers?

Every man and every woman. Artists, technologists, thinkers, entrepreneurs, employees, personalities, professionals, unprofessionals and students, to name a few – and all of them brave enough to stand up in front of the Baltimore-DC-Annapolis-Etc. communities and share something.

Ignite events (started in Seattle in 2006 by Brady Forrest and Bre Pettis) are the most valuable organized events I’ve ever attended, professionally speaking. I’ve been to three and walked away from each equally energized and entertained by people who weren’t trying to sell me anything, but just had something cool to share.

It’s NOT all about social media – it IS all about your local community.

While the local Twitter population came out in force, there were plenty of non-twitterers amidst the presenters and spectators at the Ignite events I’ve attended. It’s amazing to have the chance to see what other people in the community are doing as opposed to hearing what someone is pitching, proposing, or otherwise “pushing.” These events are absolutely about sharing interests and ideas. They also avoid the awkwardness that can occur at more traditional “forced networking” events (you know, the ones that start with “Hello My Name Is…” badges and end with a pocketful of business cards that you’re unlikely to follow up on).

For example, I was fascinated at Ignite Baltimore #3 last week to learn about “The Archimedes Palimpsest,” now on loan at The Walters Art Museum, from Curator of Manuscripts, Will Noel. The guy and the topic that ignites him were fascinating. And Matt Castner, a blogger and recent college grad made “the case for being a generalist” with a polished, practiced and perfect delivery that also included one of the best impromptu and spontaneous laughs of the night. Jim Kucher, Melody Hildebrandt and Peter Corbett dazzled in their ideasharing about capitalism, the bailout-free web and crappy web apps (respectively), Amanda Schwarz has me rethinking my relationship with tea (black, green, oolong and herbal!), Debra Rubino encouraged me to do more eavesdropping, and Anne Draddy forever changed the way I’ll look at the tree canopy in downtown Baltimore.

It was a pot-luck of information and entertainment.

And it was an absolute delight to be exposed to such bright and interesting people in such a unique and lively format. Even the most “offbeat” presentation of the night was interesting in its, well, “offbeatness.”

Tickets are free. And you can do as much or as little actual socializing as you want.

To learn more about the Ignite event in your area, visit ignite.oreilly.com or wikipedia. Find out if your city has one and by all means give attendance some serious consideration. DEFINITELY worth your time, IMHO.

Local to me? Check out:

• Ignite Baltimore (Next event on 10/22 at The Walters)
• Ignite DC
• Ignite Annapolis
• Ignite Philly
• Ignite Wilmington

You can follow Ignite events on Twitter, as well:

• @IgniteBaltimore
• @IgniteDC
• @IgniteAnnapolis
• @IgnitePhilly
• @IgniteWilm

Oftentimes these events are webcast live, in case the workload, laundry and litter box keep you housebound. Just check their respective websites for the deets.

Bottom line? Ignite events are good for anyone’s gray matter.

I appreciate inspiration wherever I find it – I bring the energy from Ignite events right back into my work, into my personal interests and into my creative pursuits. So I want to issue a formal thank you to Mike Subelsky and Patti Chan, Ignite Baltimore co-founders, for lighting things up for all of those attending the event on June 25.

I look forward to getting lit again…hope I’ve adequately communicated why I think you should, too!

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• Ignite YouTube Channel (Best of Ignites from around the world)