July 6, 2003 – Riversong Writing
February 3, 2022 by
July 6, 2003 – Riversong Writing
First time at Sola and Cosmo’s in Hood River, Oregon. It’s very pleasant. Jeff, Stay, Larry, Cosmo, Sola Michele, Deb, John Manns, Pam Hoke, a variety of locals and their boys, Bob & Maggi, Sarah, Brent, Winnie, Rick, and a black cat. Camilla of the flower essences – watching Larry and she cuddle was fun. Goat burritos on the way in. Storm stopped by yesterday with a sarong for Erica. Where is Erica many want to know? Good question. Part of me feels she should be here – her friends/tribe are here. Par to f me is very glad to get to do what I want to do without reservation, consideration of her needs. Pam just told me I was in her dreams last night. That we were being sweet with each other. She also shared a picture of Edie (Tierra del Milagro) and a poem on the internet. It’s nice that we’ve had that constant connection over the years – Breitenbush (she’s also done RC), Costa Rica, River Song I’m sitting at the end of a long row of picnic tables facing woods and a steep slope behind. Wind chimes in the breeze, people waking, hugging, breakfast being prepared in the communal kitchen. It’s a little rough and gritty here but also very beautiful. Lots of green, lots of birds. Last night we had a nice big dinner/potluck and a talent show. Yesterday being naked on the river, dunking.
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the stationary I’m writing on has at the top: “To be truly free is to be bathed in nature with no boundaries”.
January 31, 2022 by
Direct Mail
If you’ve known me for any length of time, you know I’m a big fan of sending mail. From a very early age, I started collecting stamps. First I inherited a collection from an uncle and that was the beginning of a hobby that continues on to this day. I’ve also been highly involved in a Burning Man theme camp called the BRCPO which stands for the Black Rock City Post Office. And in between these two things there have been years of sending letters for all sorts of reasons – letters to the editor; letters to friends; and trying out direct mail for marketing purposes.
These days the mail has been in the news for a variety of reasons. The previous president tried to use the USPS to restrict peoples’ ability to vote. He even installed a puppet to lead the USPS who the current administration is trying to oust, but it’s not that easy! But through all of this, I’ve remained a huge fan of sending mail. Now as someone who is involved in marketing I also recognize mail as a marketing channel and it has a special place in my heart because it is an underutilized marketing channel. What this means is that anyone who uses the mail to send out marketing materials is going to have a bigger impact than those who pass on this opportunity.
Currently, there are many ways to send out mailmerged letters to hundreds or thousands of people. You probably receive this type of correspondence frequently from companies offering credit card opportunities, for instance. But when was the last time you got a letter from a friend? Did you know for instance that there are ways to send handwritten thank you cards online? I’ve been playing around with this concept for a couple of years. There are ways to automate sending emails and there are also ways to send out cards using similar online processes.
One of the niftiest things is if you get a chance – take a picture with someone at an event and then send them a card via the mail soon after including the picture. Sending a thank you card is a way to indicate to the person that they are special to you. That the time together was important. And also shows off your savvy use of technology. What’s really interesting about all of this is how technology continues to advance. Now it’s even possible to have the card printed using your own handwriting – talk about personal!
If you want to really take this to the next level you can just use the old-fashioned pen and ink version. See the picture above. A good friend, Taj, gave me a stack of Postcard to Voters postcards and I used these this year for my annual New Year’s card to friends. I also created a little game where I’d bring the cards with me to times when I’d be with other friends and we’d all take a turn saying hi to various friends we have in common. Then, the person on the receiving end would get a hello from a bunch of friends rather than just me. I also had friends address cards to themselves so I could take those forward. It’s been a fun experience and it’s all thanks to the US mail that I can have this much fun and spread this much joy.
So, if you’re interested in discussing using direct mail in a marketing approach, please get in touch. I’d be happy to speak to you about it, and if you want to take any ideas I share here and run with them – go for it. Try just sending one card out and see what happens. I promise you you’ll be surprised and your friend will be overjoyed!
Happy Postal goodness. Albert
The Future
January 21, 2022 by
How to Prepare for the Future
When I have started various projects in the past I’ve usually thought of the people who would participate in them as being my peers – people my age. But eventually, we all grow old and can no longer carry on our visions and need next generations to take over. I’ve always been fascinated by organizations like SAGE in Portland, Oregon which understand this aspect of life very well.
SAGE: “We are a community of advocates who believe that each generation should improve the quality of life for the next.
Everyone is an asset, despite their age. People over fifty have energy, wisdom, and resources that are vital to the well-being of our communities. Through workshops, discussions, and leadership development, SAGE inspires and supports adults to give forward so younger and future generations thrive.”
SAGE helps facilitate all sorts of projects with a big part of what they’re about being the passing along of skills to future generations. My own projects like Farm My Yard really haven’t been built with that concept in mind. I just figured I’d do what I do – get things started and then people would pick up the idea and run with it and it would spread hither and yon over time and continue as long as needed. This is what happened with an organization I helped boost in 2003 – Freecycle.
In 2003 I came back from my 3rd Burning Man in the Nevada desert and I had really gotten interested in the gifting economy. Through the Utne Reader I learned of a small effort in Tucson, AZ that was all about using a Yahoo group to offer up one’s belongings and see who wanted them. They had grown to 1,000 members. I got busy starting a Portland version of the service and also started groups for many major cities in the U.S. and the world. One friend suggests that I did more to keep things out of the landfill than anyone alive. Freecycle’s success eventually led to a “free” section on Craig’s List and today’s very popular Buy Nothing Project which has relied on local Facebook groups for its growth and success. In this example, I have no doubt that something like this example of the gifting economy will easily outlive me. But what about things where I have been less successful in getting the project off the ground like Farm My Yard?
One way to make sure that whatever you’re doing spreads is to think about how to attract the very young to what you’re doing. That’s not always the easiest thing to consider. How can a 60-year old writer/thinker in Portland, Oregon transmit an idea to younger generations around the country and world? Well, kids love games and so perhaps through the use of gaming, there might be an opportunity to attract younger minds and hearts to the idea of urban gardening. That is what brought me into connection with X and I’m definitely interested in seeing if this might be a way to teach young people the magic of growing your own food, but perhaps also to consider learning how to spread that knowledge and interest into their lives for good.
This site full of cooking and gardening games for kids seems to fit that bill. I thought I’d try out Veggiezilla – and I can see how this might be a great way to get kids interested in growing vegetables.
The game is simple yet entertaining. That said, I’m going to have to try to find some young kids to take it for a test drive and see what they think of it! I’m going to ask folks who follow the Farm My Yard FB page to see if their kids take to it. This New Looney Tunes Veggie Patch game also looks like fun.
This one doesn’t seem to teach in a clear way as the first one above, but heck I know that different kids learn differently. In any case, these games seem like an interesting way to approach future generations that are given tablets at a young age. I’d be curious to hear your thinking below in the comments section. Do you think this is a good direction in addition to getting kids to get their hands dirty by actually digging in the dirt and planting things? My sense is that the more different kinds of information kids get the more likely they are to pick up the habit of growing food. I also think they might really need to understand these systems better in the future given the kinds of supply chain challenges we are seeing these days. Again, I’d love to hear what you think.
Thanks for reading. Here’s to a better year ahead.
Albert Kaufman
Short Bio
January 9, 2022 by
Bio for Albert Kaufman
I am a social media and email marketing thought leader. I’ve been a Constant Contact partner since 2008. I’ve taught small businesses and nonprofits how to get the most out of their time and effort using the tools of the trade such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Alignable, and Constant Contact for email marketing. Via small classes and one-on-one coaching, I’ve worked with healthcare professionals, restaurants, photographers, and many other types of businesses to help their marketing efforts succeed. With 20+ years in high-tech as a software quality assurance engineer, I’m also very good at sharing tips about how to make online life and computer use easier.
For more about me visit my sites:
Main website: https://albertideation.com
Facebook http://facebook.com/albertideation
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/albertkaufman11
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/albertkaufman/
Get my free marketing checklist here
Sign up for a 1-month free Constant Contact trial account @ https://www.constantcontact.com/signup.jsp?pn=albertkaufman
Albert Kaufman is a social media and email marketing thought leader. He’s been a Constant Contact teacher, trainer, and partner since 2008. He’s taught small businesses and nonprofits how to get the most out of their time and effort using the tools of the trade such as Facebook, Instagram, Alignable, LinkedIn, and Constant Contact for email marketing. Via small classes and one-on-one coaching, he’s worked with healthcare professionals, restaurants, photographers, and many other types of businesses to help their marketing efforts succeed. With 20+ years in high-tech as a software quality assurance engineer, he’s also very good at sharing tips about how to make online life and computer use easier.
For more about Albert visit:
Main website: https://albertideation.com
Facebook http://facebook.com/albertideation
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/albertkaufman11
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/albertkaufman/
Get my free marketing checklist here
Sign up for a 1-month free Constant Contact trial account @ https://www.constantcontact.com/signup.jsp?pn=albertkaufman
Moving about the Gameboard – Charlotte, NC?
October 12, 2021 by
Well, Hello Charlotte
Recently, I was traveling back from visiting my family on the East Coast. Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, to be exact. That’s where I was born and I grew up not far away in New Jersey. I was on my way back to Portland, Oregon, my home for the past 20 years (7 years in Seattle before that). I love it in Portland and hardly ever think of leaving, but of course, traveling by air puts strange thoughts in one’s mind. On my trip back to Portland, I had a short layover in Charlotte, North Carolina and it kind of moved me.
The flight into Charlotte took us over some very flat terrain and I could see the city clearly from above. It looks like a much smaller place than Portland, Oregon – at least from the air. It turns out that Charlotte and the metropolitan area are maybe even bigger than Portland, Oregon. It looked warm and green and full of lots of suburbias. Kind of like the part of New Jersey that I grew up in – Lawrence, New Jersey.
The airport was also nice. I ended up sitting down at a restaurant and having a meal. Whereas everyone on the plane and in the airport was wearing masks because we’re in the middle of a pandemic, in the restaurant you were allowed to remove your mask which was a relief and a great break up to the day.
When I think about leaving Portland, I often start with what I love about this place. I was just thinking yesterday about Depave which is an organization that helps people organize work parties where we rent a dumpster and pull up all the asphalt and it’s hauled away. I’ve been doing this type of thing even before I moved to Portland. In Seattle, we rented a large truck to do this, but the dumpster route is much preferred. When I rented a truck – we ended up driving to the transfer station – something that’s fun once, but not something you really want to repeat! I’ll never forget how sore I was pushing the asphalt off the truck and into the pit of the transfer station!
Anyway, does Charlotte, NC have a Depave group? Do they have a Friends of Trees which works to plant trees in the area? I wonder how I’d do moving to a completely new town. Whether I still have the energy to start new efforts from scratch or whether I’d just settle in and ignore all that needs to be done. These are big questions that I pose to myself as I consider ever leaving Portland, Oregon.
The big reason I moved to the Pacific Northwest in the first place was for better weather. I grew up in New Jersey which had real winters. Snowy. Cold. After living in Germany from 1991-1994 I realized that I really was through with Winter. That’s why Seattle came next. And I’ve never thought seriously about relocated back to the Northeast even though winters there are becoming warmer due to climate change. Charlotte, North Carolina does look like it’s got a little bit of a humid, tropical feel. I guess my next step will be to gather with my cousins, brother and sister there one of these days and spend a weekend seeing what it’s really like. If you have any thoughts about Charlotte, NC, I’d love to hear about them in the comments. Or, where are you eyeing as the next place to live if you are considering relocating?
Thanks for your thoughts.
Albert
PS – that’s me at Breitenbush this summer for the summer solstice gathering 2021
