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Posted on February 6, 2012 - by Wayne Sutton

Day 6: People of color impacting the social web – Christine Celise Johnson – #29DaysofDiversity

As we all know, February is Black History Month. It’s a month where we honor those who have made an impact on American culture for equal rights, those who have invented, those who have a helped others and those who have inspired everyone to be the best they can be, not only as a person of color but as a human. For the past two years for Black History Month, I started an online series called 28 Days Diversity where I would feature someone new everyday during the month of February for just being awesome in their own right. Even though it’s black history month, the goal for 28 Days of Diversity is to feature not just African-Americans but other minorities in the web/tech space. Also note that 28 Days of Diversity is not a popularity contest or an influencer list but a list of thought leaders in the social web sector, including entrepreneurs, bloggers, conference organizers, IT professionals and friends not ranked in any particular order who I have either met in person or followed online. Each post will include a picture, bio, two links from the selected person and this paragraph.

For 2012 I wanted to not just feature individuals but also ask a question to where each featured person could share their passion with others. For 28 Days of Diversity 2012 each post/person will answer the question “What motivates you to become successful?”

For the next 29 days since 2012 is a leap, come back to visit SocialWayne.com/tag/28daysofdiversity and/or 28daysofdiversity.com to see who’s on the list. For day 6, I would like to introduce to some and present to others:

Christine Celise Johnson

Twitter: @iamdtech

Website/Blog: www.Iamdtech.com

Bio

A graduate of College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Christine is the Founder of DiversiTech, an organization that provides educational programming, networking opportunities and access to resources for minorities in technology. DiversiTech is based out of the Baltimore/Washington area and has national partnerships with like-minded organizations working to change the look of the technology startup landscape. No stranger to the startup culture, she has been the driving force behind the success of the national model for technology transfer and commercialization showcases for the nation’s top seed/early-stage funding company since 2001.

Ms. Johnson’s background includes owning a successful event planning and marketing company that serviced various tech and non-profit clients, creating a visual arts gallery and education program, being published in a number of poetry journals, contributing to business and creative publications/blogs, and facilitating healing arts and women in entrepreneurship workshops. She has been recognized as an outstanding woman entrepreneur by Morgan State University’s Entrepreneurial Development Assistance Center (EDAC).

Ms. Johnson is presently on the board for The America21 Project, an open, collaborative and innovative platform that fosters solutions-based approaches to 21st century community economic development. She is also a member of the Emerging Technology Center (ETC) Ambassador Council, an award-winning incubator in Baltimore, MD. Her previous service includes a national advisory committee member for the National Association for Blacks in Bio; board member for A Step Forward Rehabilitation Facility; committee member for Prince George’s County (MD) Business Summit; and board member for Youth Warriors Environmental Justice Organization.

Ms. Johnson has been interviewed on various topics by Sophie’s Parlor on WPFW (DC), BriefCase Radio on WEAA (Baltimore), Mario Armstrong’s Digital Lifestyle Show on XM Radio, Technology Today and WomanSphere by Amina on Blogtalk Radio.

These days she spends much of her time developing relationships with, and advocating for, amazing minority technology entrepreneurs.

What motivates you to become successful?

What motivates me to become successful? – My spirit and the belief that there is nothing I can’t do. When I see there is a need in the world and I get a “spirit tug” to create something that will make a difference, I act. In the end, it’s all about the people you touch and the amazing ways that touch changes you.

You can follow the status of 29 Days of Diversity 2012 on http://28daysofdiversity.com, http://socialwayne.com/category/28-days-of-diversity/ and syndicated on BlackWeb 2.0.

Posted on February 5, 2012 - by Wayne Sutton

Video – The fear of losing trumps the excitement of victory for so many people via Gary Vaynerchuk

Great video from Gary Vaynerchuk Called “A rant from the heart, hip and head”

A few of my favorite quotes from the video are:

The fear of losing trumps the excitement of victory for so many people
Roll up on that business idea and make it happen.
The worst feeling is being 50, 60, 80, 90 and having regrets that you didn’t swing the bat is the worst of them all!
Our at bat is infort of us, take a swing

Posted on February 5, 2012 - by Wayne Sutton

Day 5: People of color impacting the social web – Joselin Mane – #29DaysofDiversity

For the next 29 days since 2012 is a leap, come back to visit SocialWayne.com/tag/28daysofdiversity and/or 28daysofdiversity.com to see who’s on the list. For day 5, I would like to introduce to some and present to others:

Joselin Mane

Twitter: @JoselinMane

Website/Blog: bostontweetup.com/

Bio

A passionate Internet Marketing Consultant with 20 years of computer technology experience. Add my 10 years of Online Marketing experience and 12 years of Business Development experience, and you get a powerful combination that is rarely seen in this new media market. His passion and focus is working with small/midsize businesses, organizations and entrepreneurs to best leverage Internet technologies to systematically reach their financial and/or growth goals.
He specializes in wrapping marketing around technology to help grow his clients’ businesses in more efficient ways. He’s known in the corporate world for his resourcefulness, and since going digital, have has earned online recognition and a reputation for these skills as well. His way of finding information and adapting new technology enables his to quickly access opportunities for growth and provide several easy-to-understand tactical plans based on his clients overall strategy. Early in his career, I was highlighted in a full page ad for the work he contributed to Herman Miller saving over 1 Million dollars.

As a first generation Dominican American, many extraordinary life experiences allowed him to analyze opportunities from various, unique perspectives. He has traveled extensively across the United States and around the world. His previous business endeavors have taken him to places including three months in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and six months in England, Sweden, Norway, Germany, France and Spain. His international experiences gives him a strong foundation from which he has developed global marketing campaigns for my clients.

Throughout his life he has worked with and been a part of many community organizations including the Boys Scouts, Lawrence Boys & Girls Club, Inroads, and NSBE. Most recently he developed a marketing plan for the fastest growing and largest professional Latino membership site in Massachusetts history, have co-founded both BeScene Marketing, which provides Social Media Strategies for the Entertainment Industry and BostonTweetUp , which provides people in the Boston area a central resource to learn all about local Tweetups. He has also been selected as a connector for the Mayor of Boston, Boston World Partnership initiative.

Via BostonTweetUp, which he has been focusing the majority of this time now on, he created MegaTweetUp. MegaTweetUp is the largest non-branded tweetup in the world, uniting people of all ages and disciplines to network and learn more about how to best leverage social media for their businesses.
He is a strong believer of, “Do what you do best and outsource the rest.” He embodies this by championing the Kolbe A index, an index that measures one’s strengths. By knowing one’s natural strengths they are able to focus on what they are most effective at, and find other people who complement them to join their team. His Kolbe results say that he is a forward thinker and has a great ability to conceptualize what could be, and to picture how things work. His expansive technical and marketing knowledge combined with my ability to intuitively visualize possibilities allows him to not only create solutions quickly but more importantly, find a better way of doing things in the process. He has a keen eye which allows him to detect discrepancies and adjust procedures in any project.

He has posted his Kolbe results on his company website and his blog. He invites people to read his results and learn his Modus Operandi, and encourages people to go to the Kolbe site and find their unique strengths.

Since he has a strong understanding of myself, He begin each of his projects by having an honest conversation with each of the team members to determine the most effective use of everybody’s skills and natural instincts, maximizing the effectiveness of the team.

He devote several hours a day to learning the varying trends in business and technology such as the new platform of ever changing Social Media. He provides his clients with the best and most current information to make a decision that will have the greatest impact on their business. He continuously researches and networks to bring his clients the very best resources available.

As the founder & lead consultant of LITBeL Consulting, He brings all of my experience, knowledge, and resources together. One of the strengths he brings to his clients is the ability to handpick the perfect team, one created from the skills and talents of the clients’ current team accented by the best of the resources of LITBeL Consulting. Using this strategy he is able to create great teams of professionals which are completely customized based on the individual clients needs.

What motivates you to become successful?

“What motivates you to become successful?” My Mother who came to this country on the sheer notion that this was the land of opportunity. I also work hard/smart on behalf of those that came before me, that that can’t themselves and those that will come after me.

You can follow the status of 28 Days of Diversity 2011 on http://28daysofdiversity.com, http://socialwayne.com/category/28-days-of-diversity/ and syndicated on BlackWeb 2.0.

Posted on February 4, 2012 - by Wayne Sutton

Day 4: People of color impacting the social web – Brett Anitra Gilbert, Ph.D. – #29DaysofDiversity

For the next 29 days since 2012 is a leap, come back to visit SocialWayne.com/tag/28daysofdiversity and/or 28daysofdiversity.com to see who’s on the list. For day 4, I would like to introduce to some and present to others:

Brett Anitra Gilbert, Ph.D

Brett Anitra Gilbert, Ph.D.

Twitter: @profgilbert

Website: http://about.me/brettanitra

Bio

Brett is an assistant professor in the Department of Management and Global Business at Rutgers University. She is the very first Entrepreneurship PhD graduate from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Her expertise is in geographic clusters, technology entrepreneurship and new venture performance. Her research was awarded a Kauffman Dissertation Fellowship in 2004, and was later selected as a finalist for the Heizer Award, which is given by the Academy of Management’s Entrepreneurship Division for outstanding dissertations in entrepreneurship.

In 2009, Brett was chosen as a Kauffman Junior Faculty Fellow, which is awarded to emerging entrepreneurship scholars. Of the 10 recipients to date, she is only the second woman to receive the award and the only African-American. Her expertise on clusters and technology entrepreneurship landed her a two-year gubernatorial appointment as an advisory committee member to the Texas Emerging Technology Fund from 2008-2010.

Brett’s research is currently published or forthcoming in several top management journals, and her most recently accepted manuscript, “Creative Destruction: Identifying its Geographic Origins” has been one of the top 10 most downloaded manuscripts in the Social Science Research Network for Entrepreneurship & Economics, since the manuscript’s release in December.
Brett teaches a Technology Ventures course to undergraduate and graduate students, and has also taught courses on creativity and innovation as well as general entrepreneurship. Students who have taken her courses are currently exploring ventures in industries as diverse as construction services, education, fashion and social media.

What motivates you to become successful?

I am motivated to be a good steward of the gifts and talents God has given me, and to use them to the best of my ability to fulfill my life’s purpose. ‘Success’ has been the natural byproduct of doing those two things, not really something I can say I consciously work to achieve.

You can follow the status of 28 Days of Diversity 2011 on http://28daysofdiversity.com, http://socialwayne.com/category/28-days-of-diversity/ and syndicated on BlackWeb 2.0.

Posted on February 3, 2012 - by Wayne Sutton

Going back to Cali … NewME, Startup Dreams and To Change The World

“Going back to Cali, Cali, Cali…” Yesterday was a bitter-sweet day. I’m excited, nervous, sad, happy, out of my mind, but motivated. I’ve moved to San Francisco. It was a tough decision but with everything going on and my future plans, dreams and goals it’s the best move for life today.

I’ve been a long time geek, entrepreneur, blogger, designer and then some and my long time dream was making it big in Silicon Valley. Until last year I never thought it would be possible but then NewME Accelerator happen and that changed everything. I think back to 2009 while planning and giving my first Ignite talk at Ignite Raleigh the topic was 19 reasons why the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) is better than Silicon Valley. It was a fun presentation but doing it really just showed that being that I had never been to Silicon Valley at the time it was silly and also showed I was a little jealous and wanted to move. The Triangle community is great, has been great to me and the web/tech scene has come a long way in the past two years especially in Durham, NC. But being that I just attended an innovation Raleigh meeting where they are still trying to play catch up and establish Raleigh as an entrepreneur hot bed, I now agree and see why Vivek Wadhwa made some of his comments a few years ago about the community. No diss just the truth.

Today will be my first full day in San Francisco and I’m focused to work hard and succeed. A few days ago while visiting parents my dad asked me what do you do for fun in Silicon Valley. My response was there are things to do but you work. You work on your startup, your company, your dreams and when you launch or get funding you work even harder. That’s fun, it’s fun for me and what I love to do and it’s what I’m going to do. I’m not a big Drake fan as a few close friends know but in the words of Drake in “the Motto” #YOLO = “You only live once” and for me I rather try to make it and go after my dreams than look back a year or two years from now and say I wish I would have done this or that.

The projects I’m currently working on are:
NewME – Accelerator, Community
gokit – cofounder/advisor
Vouch
Advising Startups and Entrepreneurs
Designing, Learning and Networking: HTML5, CSS3, javascript, python, iOS, Android and more.
Speaking: Conference/University, Entrepreneurship

Thanks for the support to everyone over the years. I’m making a few big sacrifices now with the plans to succeed later. The quote by finical expert Dave Ramsey which has been adopted entrepreneurs “If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.” … That’s my plan.

Let the “fun” begin and Change the world!

Quote: Steve Jobs
“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith”

“You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. ”

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”

“Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

“Stay hungry and stay foolish”

via James Cox, shared by Mark Zuckerberg

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About

Wayne Sutton helps individuals, startups and businesses succeed in understanding how to communicate on the social web via web development, user experience, brand strategy and marketing (Mobile and Social).

Wayne Sutton is an Entrepreneur, Advisor and Partner of NewMe Accelerator.