My blog about Crofton Maryland Community and Real Estate Information has introduced me to some GREAT people!
And I'm not just talking about incoming contacts from people who read my blog. I've also discovered some neighbors I never would have met, if it weren't for my blog.
A few weks ago, for example, I received a google alert for "Crofton Maryland" and clicked through to read about Art Huseonica, a mountain climber from Crofton who was training for an expedition that begins next week. I contacted him for permission to use some of the material in my blog and asked for additional information about his pending climb of Mt. McKinley; he followed up with a phone call and a visit to my office.
I'll update you periodically when the climb begins next week, if you're interested. Be sure to click through on the links, because that's where you'll find most of the interesting information.
Crofton resident Art Huseonica recently completed a trip to the Grand Canyon, where he and Prescott, Arizona's Ray Bellam climbed "rim-to-river and back out in one day." For photos and more about their adventures, read Denali Ice Agers Train in Grand Canyon.
The Ice Agers are a team of mountain climbers preparing for the Denalis West Buttress Expedition, scheduled to climb Mt. McKinley May 19-June 12. For anyone who doesn't know, that's the highest peak in North America. It sounds like Art's Grand Canyon excursion was a training climb for the upcoming "big one" in Alaska.
For more information, check out the American Alpine Institute website and their Climbing Blog. Between now and May, I'll try to catch up with Art for his input on what we should be watching for, as we follow the excursion online.
Art teaches for University of Maryland University College and works for SchoolMart.com when he isn't climbing mountains.
RELATED LINK:
My UMUC Story: Art Huseonica Aims High
You can read my follow-up tomorrow (May 10 after noon) by clicking on FocusOnCrofton.com.
An interesting footnote to all this is that Art is the newly elected President of the Greater Crofton Council. It's an organization that I don't belong to (I live in the area represented by the Crofton Civic Association), so this connection could potentially provide me an opportunity to meet other new interesting people in my community. Who knew... I was just looking for blog topics that my neighbors would enjoy reading!
I have photos, but the ActiveRain photo upload tool isn't working for me now. Neither is spell-check. I'll try again later before I go out of town for five days.
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DISCLAIMER: Information contained in this post is deemed reliable on the date of publication, but it is not guaranteed and it is subject to change without notice.
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Margaret Woda, REALTOR and Associate Broker
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....and....Margaret.....you ALWAYS find interesting subject matter for your blog! You're my Blog in Shining Armor!!!! What a great story!
Well, there you go, Margaret. Dig out your winter clothes and come to Alaska with Art. What a great story that would make for your blog when you got home. :)
MARGARET - I hadn't thought about using Google alerts for this purpose, but it's a good idea. This sounds like and interesting story. I actually had one of my neighbors tell me that she read my blog when I wrote about our homecoming weekend. Since I was using longtail, it came up at the top of a Google search. I'm sure that others have read it to, but haven't told me about it.
Margaret: Sounds like you are a natural when it comes to networking. You are most definitely making the most of your blog.
Margaret,
Thanks for the networking ideas and letting us know that is does work. We all need to keep moving forward and keeping our chins up.
Heidi
Marg - A great networking opportunity - it is truly a very small world we live in - and blogging is certainly making it smaller
Margaret,
Nice post, nice connections with others in your area. I'd love to read more on that climb, that's quite a challenge. And rim to river and back in a day, wow. I hoping to do it with an over-nighter in Phantom Ranch at the bottom.
Anyway, nice job.
Thomm - Aw shucks... You make me blush! By the way, I gave your name to another Tomato newbie today - 'hope you don't mind.
Jesse - Haha. Are you anywhere near this area? I know, I could look it up, but it's easier to ask...
Adam - Blog ideas were not the purpose of my google alerts, but it worked out that way. I'll certainly read them fr this purpose in the future.
Chris Ann - Pure luck! (At least in this case)
Heidi - That's what we do, right? Help each other out by sharing ideas?
Kathy - Isn't that the truth!
Lynda - I plan to post periodic updates on my Crofton blog, so check it out or use some of the links in the earlier posts.
Margaret: This just proves that there is always a networking opportunity to be had if we just watch for it. I will be looking forward to reading about Art's adventures.
Margaret~ It really is amazing how well you do with your blogging and the experiences you have with them!
Vickie - Part of success in blogging is due to having a plan. It's not random - well, it's usually not random. (The current string of FSBO posts just sort of happened.) But I have a list of strategies and tactics to follow in my blogging, and I believe that's the magic secret, if there's any such thing.
Donna - If nothing else, this topic will be interesting to many Crofton readers, and it's nice to have non-real estate stuff at least weekly.
Oh the wonders of the internet - it brings us all closer together.
Amazing that we go so far to meet the ones so near. Technology is amazing.
Margaret - Interesting stuff. This may be a dumb question but somtimes that's the only kind I have...
What type of Google Alert are you referring to? Are you able to set some type of alert on Google that pings you any time your hometown is mention in a blog or article? If so, how do you set that up? Sounds like a good thing to do.
Thanks.
-Al