Starry Stories

Actually, no it isn't - not when you are building a community. Of course, when you're creating a community about your brand, service or skill set you will want to promote yourself, otherwise you're not creating a venue in which to sell you. A real community, however, goes much deeper.

 

What is your goal? 

Clarify your intent. Do you want to hear what people say about you? Do you want advocates? Do you want fans? Are you prepared to hear negative thoughts? Define your goals, prepare yourself for all eventualities.

 

Determine what information you want to gather from participants.

Do you want ideas and suggestions? Do you want opinions on new products, new offerings? Do you want to know what people think about your current product line or services? How much do you want them to say, and do you want to put any reins on how they say it? All these possibilities need consideration, as once the floodgates are opened, the water will pour through.

 

Be clear about who you are and what you're offering.

Be concise. Succinct. Share you, drilled down to the essence of what you do, what you offer, what your product is. Tell people, simply.

 

Just listen.

Take time to pay attention to what is said about you and how it is being said. Is it positive? Negative? Think about how best to respond.

 

Participate. 

Not once a month, or week - be sure to participate regularly - at least once a day and perhaps more often. Just don't always talk about you!  React to the comments shared by participants. Offer suggestions. Address negative situations - it will make for smoother, better customer relations.

 

Have fun!

Online communities are like neighborhood interactions. While sometimes it can be uncomfortable, a virtual smile and a positive attitude can go a long way to make the experience mutually enjoyable. 

 

Provide value. 

Offer a discount or coupon. Have a drawing for a giveaway. Provide an opportunity for a free service. When people see you are offering of yourself, you'll develop a wider audience of loyal participants.

 

With care and nourishment, your online community can provide a place to develop a good relationship with those who buy your product or service. It can be a leaping off point to opening up and marketing to a wider audience. It can also be a place where you can resolve uncomfortable situations.

 

Is it important to get the "It's Me!" message our there? Well, sure it is. But it's us, too - those of us you hope will become loyal consumers. Don't leave us out of the dialog!

 

As children, home is where our hearts begin to beat and to fill with love - for our parents, our siblings, our pets and our sense of place. It's where we learn about life, about interfacing with others, and about the creature comforts that we'll begin to buy for ourselves as we grow to adulthood and establish our own homes. 

Many of us find it takes a good number of years to find that special place where we plan to spend the rest of our lives. During the search, we carry our "home" with us - in crates and boxes, wrapped lovingly with bubble wrap or newsprint, transporting that familiar place where we hang our hat from one spot to the next.

Having just done what I plan to be the last move of this lifetime, or at least until they cart me off to a retirement facility, I've found the process of clinging to 'things' to be a bit of a nuisance. Indeed, over the years both my husband and I have accumulated too many things that needed packing and toting. A few former treasures will find new homes via donations to Goodwill. 

We're in the process of making this new space ours, filled with those things we treasure; a place where we will toss a jacket over a chair, flop down in front of a computer, or eat a good meal and know that we are home. This is where our hearts will be. 

Online communities, too, are home for many of us -- places of refuge where we spend hours with people who share interests, passions, commonalities. The virtual furniture gets comfortable as we begin to know our fellow community members, and as we gather with them by the light of a softly glowing computer screen. 

Sometimes it takes a while, too, to find that special community that is welcoming and lively, filled with those who are just a bit like us. When we find that place, though, we realize we have found yet another home. We're comfortable here, among friends -- sharing stories, information, bits of who we are. 

We could, I suppose, call these online communities our 'home away from home.'

Like that home where our physical self resides, we need to tend to a community home. While our physical home may need its lawn mowed, community discussions may need archiving, with the old making way for the new. While in the physical we might send out a cheery 'newsletter' to family and friends at Christmas and other special times, in an online community we may well blog about those special life events. As in our brick and mortar home, as winter things are put away to make way for summer's, in a online community we'll start a new discussion focus or perhaps photo albums for seasonal fun photos. 

It's said the more things change, the more they stay the same. Online communities are indeed much the same as our physical homes -- a comfortable place in which we can hang our virtual hat. I hope you've found one of these special places and can call it 'home.'

 

 

 

Waaaaaay back in the dark ages of telecommunications if you peered into my living room window you may have seen me hunched over an Atari 400 to visit a BBS - an early version of online community - or a couple of years later, over the newly released 128K Macintosh surfing around one of the premier online services at the time, CompuServe.

Today, I'm socially online in a number of places including: Facebook (bet that's not a surprise!), MySpace, the World Pantheism (ning) network, Twitter, this LiveWorld community and more. 

Whew! That's a lot of being social, and doesn't even include hanging out with local friends around something other than a computer!

With the ever expanding network of social connections, you will -- I'm certain! -- have noticed many brands have jumped into the social mix as well. 

Given the freedom to say what we will where ever we will (and boy, do we treasure that freedom of speech!) it's not surprising that brands are increasingly concerned with, and listening to, what is being said about them. Toward that end, companies are embracing social/community networks at an ever-increasing pace.  The best of them are providing their customers a place to vocalize, rather than letting that conversation go out into the wild (a branded community or Facebook page) and are also joining their customers where they are online (by listening and sharing on Twitter).

The company should know consumers will trust each other more than the brand, and that the power is in the consumer's hands. A strong strategy will help to wrest that control back to the company so it's important for a develop goals and strategy for any online effort they undertake. Up to 80% of their success will be based upon that strategy. 

Recently LiveWorld, Inc. hosted a Social Everywhere webinar, during which industry leaders, including our own Peter Friedman, discussed how to get customers to engage with brands on a company site, on Facebook and across the web. You can view the webinar recording here or view the seminar slides here.

Why not drop by and review the slides or give the webinar a viewing? You may find the time is now for you and for your company to get social. Jump on the Social Everywhere train before it passes your stop!

 

Star Aasved is an employee of LiveWorld, Inc.

 

 

Each time you blink, it seems the social side of the internet has grown exponentially. If you're a social maven, you might belong to a multitude of communities, author blogs regularly and even maintain a Twitter presence. 

Mark Schaefer, on his Businesses Grow blog, Social Web Ushers in "The Era of Alone" opines that social networks and media are creating layers of connectivity among those who spend most of their time alone. He believes people's interactions with others are done electronically, rather than face-to-face, and there are those whose only purpose in visiting a coffee shop is for their free WiFi, not the opportunity to meet others.

While I can't speak for others, I disagree with Mark's opinion. With my first foray into the world of bulletin boards (BBS services) in the mid-80s, through the explosion of the internet in the 90s and beyond, I've found social media to be a very friendly, warm place and have had the opportunity to get to know, and meet face-to-face, quite a few really wonderful folks whose interests range from a shared spiritual belief system to cooking to the love of the Macintosh. Heck, I met my husband in a chat room!

It's true, I know many more people virtually than I've met in person, but as opportunities for meeting arise, I'm always eager to take them. 

As a fairly avid Facebook user, the great majority of FB friends are people I've met at one time or another. While that may not be true for most, I have to wonder if they feel as I do -- if the chance to meet presents itself, wouldn't they want to meet these friends?

What does social media do for you? Do you consider yourself virtually social? Are you more social online than off? 

 

With increasing frequency, consumers are taking comments about companies and brands to the Internet via social media such as Twitter, video, photographs and even their Facebook feed.

Given the viral nature of the Internet, maintaining an overview of what is being said about your company and/or brand has become increasingly important, whether the commentary is positive or negative.

Particularly in the case of negative comments, whether it be for someone complaining about product quality or company service, it may be in the best interest of the brand to address issues before they have a chance to impact consumer opinion or, worse, the bottom line.

You may have seen a You Tube video about the Comcast tech sent on a service call who fell asleep while on hold waiting for someone at Comcast to assist him with a customer's modem issues -- the video has been seen more than 1 million times.

Was this video directly related to the Twitter account, @ComcastCares ? While I don't know, Comcast has made a wise decision to watch what is said about their brand in the Twitterverse. Commenting on Comcast via Twitter generally results in a speedy response from @ComcastCares, maintained by Frank Eliason, who will try to assist if you're having a Comcast issue.

Similarly, a dissatisfied customer of HP created a Twitter account, @hpdoesntcare. The customer followed every HP employee he (or she) could, and Twittered about every frustrating interaction with the brand. The tactic had an effect -- eventually the issue was resolved and the @hpdoesntcare removed all negative feeds from their Twitter page. All that remains is a message that it "is finally over."

Social media is increasingly influential. Do you know what is being said about your brand?

No doubt Twitter and social media aficionados follow the blog efforts of Forrester Research's Jeremiah Owyang. You can find many gold nuggets in his timely blog entries which, for those of us in the social media biz, are of terrific value.

His recent entry on the types of Twitter profiles was interesting. Owyang breaks down Twitter users into four basic types and discusses what persona type is right for specific purposes.

In my Twitter travels I've seen examples of all four types: the pure corporate; the corporate with persona; the employee with corporate association; and the purely personal Twitter user. Of the second type, corporate with persona, @ComcastCares really does exemplify the type -- a professional who clearly does care about Comcast users and their internet experiences. I put this to the test one day when having connectivity issues with Comcast, my own ISP. Within minutes of reporting frustration via a Twitter message, Frank Elliason was in touch with me to see if he could be of help.

Increasingly, Twitter accounts are valuable to corporations. Using a site like TweetVolume can display, in bar graph format, how often your company name or a key related subject has been mentioned on Twitter. If you're listening to the social media conversations about your company -- and you should be! -- putting your company's Twitter presence out into the tweet stream can help you instantly respond to those talking about your brand. Don't miss this opportunity to listen to, and talk with, your customers.

Use hashtags to gather information information specific to that tag. Twitter posts organized by hashtag can be found at Hashtags.org. As an experiment, put a hashtag (#) in front of your company's name and see what you can find!

Other useful Twitter techniques are: setting up keyword alerts for people, products or brands; and the ability to search for real-time results via mentions of particular topics or brands. Point Twitter users to specific content via shortened URLs at http://tinyurl.com and measure the link click through rates. Use http://HootSuite.com to send tweets at specific times throughout the day -- by tweeting at high volume times of day there is a likelihood that your post will be retweeted.

So, what kind of Twitter user am I? I suspect the third category, employee with corporate association, sums me up pretty well as the majority of information I pass along via Twitter is related to social media and online community. Of course, I pass along other items I find interesting as well, that's the way I am.

What about you? Are you using Twitter? How? Drop a tweet to @staraasved and let me know.

You can't miss Twitter these days - no matter where you turn, it seems, someone is talking about Twitter, the ad-hoc next best thing to sliced bread.



Everyone, or so it would seem from the phenomenal growth exhibited in just the last month, is tweeting their message to the twitterverse in 140 character increments.



Orbiting the Social Media world, as we LiveWorld team members do, Twitter has become an important part of our daily effort as well. On any given day you can find one or some of the 27 LiveWorld twitterers tweeting. (Check out the list, compiled by @BryanPerson, LiveWorld's Social Media Evangelist, here.)



But... I have to wonder, some days, about Twitter. While our team works to share what we believe to be information of value with our followers, I see many tweets that seem so irrelevant to the "rest of us" -- congratulations, birthday wishes to people we don't know, mentions that so-and-so is getting ready to get on a plane at airport X -- the list goes on. Many of these tweets come from those who are movers and shakers in the Social Media Universe.



I'm not saying people shouldn't tweet those things that might be personal value, but have to wonder where the line should be drawn. Is everything we think about of real value? Are each of us so important that we have to talk about getting ready for takeoff? And, perhaps the biggest question in my mind - why do some people only tweet about what they are doing? Aren't "the rest of us" important as well? Why not talk about what they are doing that may have impact on others? Sure, linking to your relevant blog is important, and it may be that some of the articles you've read are important -- but give reason why a user should look at that linked item, rather than just posting the link.



No doubt as the newness and need for everyone to be on Twitter wears off we'll begin to see more relevancy.



I believe the tool can add value for clients -- a branded Twitter account can be used to listen to the brand's customers to good effect, and help to deepen the client-customer relationship. Like any other social media tool, one needs to develop a strategy for use, as well as earmarking time to devote to that usage. In my mind, this should be first and foremost, even before a brand creates a Twitter account.



By the way, Guy, I find lots of value in your tweets. Meanwhile, I have to go tweet about what I'm going to have for lunch today...

All about me?

Social media takes many forms, be it the free-form expression of self on MySpace, the fun but slightly more structured Facebook venue, or those sites created to support specific companies, organizations and events.

While on MySpace and Facebook the focus is on the user from a personal perspective - ME - my interests, involvements, photos and thoughts expressed through the posting of general information and blog entries, company/organization/event sites focus on the YOU -- the customer, involved user or participant.

Social media guru Chris Brogan recently opined "In situations where you're talking with others, do your best to talk more about them." The key, in a consumer-related environment, is to talk more about the consumer's needs, thoughts and opinions. In this way you gain valuable insights from those who use your company or service, providing fertile ground for future key decisions on company/organization/event direction.

On any company, organization or event site it may be of benefit to employ the use of a 'voice of the company,' a person who can respond to issues or heated discussions with a thoughtful, measured and informed company response. With customer service key to the success of any company or organization, it is important to listen to the end user wanting to be heard. A sure way to lose that customer is to dismiss his or her concerns -- each consumer, particularly in these times, is of value.

It used to be said "Customer first!" From my perspective, over the last few years, in many cases it's seemed to be less about the customer and more about the company, bottom line and profits. It would behoove companies and organizations to talk about and to their consumers/participants, thus potentially increasing profit in the long run as that company is perceived as one who cares about their consumers.

If it's February, stores are full of heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, sexy lingerie displays, and racks of cards declaring eternal devotion making it downright difficult to forget that Valentine's Day is just around the corner.

While this holiday focuses on individual relationships, it's important to note that relationship here IS the key. It is relationship upon relationship that creates a family, a group, a community. You might discuss the history of Valentine's Day with a partner, friend, or family member as you think about those special relationships in your lives, but are you showing your community the love in your heart in other ways as well?

Communities, be they in the physical or virtual realm, are built one relationship at a time. As we travel throughout our days, we are opening our hearts to others in ways large and small -- be it a smile, nod or wink or a deeper exchange of thoughts, feelings and impressions. In the online universe one can find a multitude of sites that encourage sharing our hearts with others through social action.

A quick Google search on the phrase "social action communities" reveals health care focus, actions built around developing 21st century community skills, blogging as social action, a Unitarian Universalist church site with a social action web site. No doubt we could go much deeper and find more virtual connections, as that is our primary focus in this venue, but it may be enough in this short blog to acknowledge that social action sites exist, allowing others to connect around issues and concerns.

As my associate Mark Williams has written in this and other blog entries, community is about action and can be found to have a higher purpose. In this case, the action taken is a sharing of a portion of one's heart, one's love for humanity through interaction with others who just may benefit from our help.

So, in this month of love, take the time out to show your love. Share with those social action communities that can use your participation, donation or involvement to show their love to others. Cupid needn't send his arrows to just the one who is special in your life -- he has a whole quiver full and is glad to send his missives of love to all.

Having just read an inspiring piece authored by co-worker and friend Kevin Callahan, thoughts of places, faces and causes for inspiration flooded my mind.

Kevin succinctly tied together his east coast and west coast lives, noting some ties which bound -- and continue to bind -- him to both locales are linked to the physical landscape. Asking a question on how this applies to my life, both that "real" one beyond the keyboard and the "virtual" one - in the social media whirl, seems appropriate in this space.

LiveWorld associate Mark Williams recently blogged that aspects of social media become true community based around an action. Having been involved in online community for more than twenty years through various venues, I have to agree. Each of those communities in which I participated had a purpose, a reason for being, whether it was around the fledgling Macintosh at the Macintosh Users Group (MAUG) on CIS in the 80s, eWorld, Apple's online venue in the mid-90s, or throughout my work with LiveWorld, Inc., from '96 through today.

Personally, participating in online community has reaped some amazing rewards. First, and very personally, it was through an online spirituality community that I met my beloved husband, Mikal, way back in 1996. The threads that tied that group of people together were strong, as they were tied not only to a virtual place but to a physical reality; the Earth-centered focus of our spiritual practice. Those of us who came together in a chat room were spread out all over the US and Canada, with occasional visitors from Europe as well. Imagine, if you will, a group of people huddled around the soft glow of the computer screen, sharing their feelings and their spiritual practice -- celebrating seasonal rituals in cyberspace.

The second reward of my online life is working for a terrific online community provider, LiveWorld. Through the connections of routers, URLs and various gateways to the electronic wonderland that is the Internet, I've come to know a fine group of people, many of whom I can call friend. We share a purpose here, providing quality social sites for companies -- allowing those people who share commonalities built around brand to come together.

Those who are land-bound will, perhaps, downplay the importance of online community. Yet, as time marches forward, to more and more people it becomes almost essential -- we are tied to email, to discussion, to Twitter, to Facebook, to a cooking community or one of mothers sharing the trials and tribulations of motherhood -- all from the keystrokes of this QWERTY keyboard.

When it comes to brands, they are finding it more and more essential as well, using various community aspects to listen to the pulse of consumers - garnering opinion about product, suggestion, and promoting the brand.

Community is about a shared action, indeed, but it is also what you make of it. The energy spent building relationships, exchanging dialog, listening, and acting, all reflect those same actions you and I spend away from the computer. We put time and effort into cultivating our non-online community, and so we must do the same in this virtual world.

Community is commitment. Community is taking the time to give as well as take. It is taking time to listen as well as to expound on any given topic. Without these efforts, true community cannot exist. In the end, the successful online community binds us together as surely as our land-based communities do. We share product discussion, valuable news and words of wisdom along with laughter, tears, hopes, dreams and sorrows in these virtual worlds, and we are rooted in virtual space as surely as my friend Kevin is rooted in both east and west coasts.

Community, be it in real-time/life or virtual, brings us together.

Originally posted at: http://starwindscauldron.wordpress.com/2009/01/16/the-ties-that-bind/

Each year I wax sentimental during this season of joy and light, and suppose many of you do, too. Memories of Christmases past: those special mornings when we woke and discovered Santa had placed gifts under the tree; the joy of spending a special day with family; special meals ending with trays of mom's incredible home-made cookies; the wonder that my own son exhibited as his babyhood gave way to youth; and so many more snapshots of life fill my heart and mind as the days of the celebration of returning light draw closer.

Many holidays are celebrated at this time of year: both the religious and secular Christmas; Hannukah; Kwanzaa; and our own celebration of the Winter Solstice, this year occurring on December 21. In my mind, each of them celebrates the return of the light -- the birth of Jesus, the light of the world, the lighting of the menorah, and the turning of the sun that is the Winter Solstice, when again the days begin to grow longer.

Our home decorations for the solstice are much like those seen in homes of those celebrating Christmas. Greenery, poinsettia, glittering bows and ribbons are some of what we display at our house. Here there are special pieces, too -- small ornaments representing the sun and moon; with stags, oak leaves and mistletoe acknowledging early Yule celebrations.

Pictured here is the lovely oak commode that my husband's grandfather purchased in 1914. Atop it sits a washbasin and matching bowl that came together as a result of two exactly the same sets owned by Mikal's great-grandmother and grandmother, one piece of the set had been broken in the homes of each. The green depression glass lamp, an electrified oil lamp from the 30's, is the final component. We've decorated the commode as we always do, in greens, reds and golds, with some ornamental treasures I've collected over the years.

No matter what holiday you celebrate, I hope the day is filled with joy and that for just a few days the Earth will be somewhat stilled with thoughts of peace.

Happy holidays.

To many, celebrating the return of winter, or Wyrd of Veternaetur, may seem a strange reason to host a party. Perhaps an explanation of the reasoning behind the celebration will help clarify.

Of course, an explanation of the Scandinavian words is in order. The word wyrd is a derivative of the verb weopan, 'to become.' Weopan, is derived from the Indo-European root uert, and means 'to turn.' In modern English, wyrd is 'in turn' in action. In Norse mythology the Norns are three females responsible for shaping our lives based on the past, thus illustrating the wyrd in the same way we believe our ancestry and past personal history inform who we are and how we act today. My usage of wyrd is related to the turning of the seasons.

In pre-Christian Scandinavia, Veternaetur, or Winternights, was a period in mid-October which marked the beginning of the winter half of the year. Cattle would be brought in from the pastures and without enough food to keep the animals through the winter, the necessity to cull the herd arose and became reason for a sacrificial feast. During this celebration the gods and ancestors were welcomed.

We can find this theme running through much of early history -- at autumn we find in many cultures the concept of the final harvest and the 'death' of summer central to festivals. Some include: the Mid-Autumn or Moon Festival of the Chinese and Vietnamese; the Day of the Dead in Mexico; celebrations of the Autumn Equinox; Samhain in Ireland and Celtic lands; All Hallows' Even, or Halloween as the evening before All Saint's Day.

So, with this information in mind my husband Mikal and I created what has become an annual event in our home, the Wyrd of Veternaetur, or Return to Winter party.

Central to the event is feasting as was done in the halls of Scandinavia in times long past. We did plenty of it at the party on October 11 - in additional to the lasagna, homemade sauce, sausage and chocolate-pumpkin marble cake I prepared, friends brought appetizers and numerous sides to serve with the meal. I dare say no one went home hungry!

Another component of the Venternaetur celebration, perhaps more important than foodstuffs, is the symbel. While the word means feast, the word has come to represent the drinking of a memory cup. According to medieval Icelandic historian Snorri Sturlusson in his Saga of Hakon the Good:
"The sacrifical beaker was to be borne around the fire, and he who made the feast, and was chieftain, was to bless the beaker as well as all the sacrificial meat. Othin's (Odin's) toast was to be drunk first -- that was for victory and power to the king -- then Njorth's and Frey's, for good harvests and for peace. Following that many used to drink a beaker to the king. Men drank toasts also in memory of departed kinsfolk."

In our group of friends, self-titled "The Vikings," passing the 'memory cup' or horn, is central to many of our gatherings. At this time of year, though, we honor those who came before us as we pass the mead-filled horn and, in turn, raise it to Gods and Goddesses of old, to our ancestors whom we recall with love, and then random toasts to those things of recent memory.


By StarwindE

The photo above is of our friend Skylar, who lead the symbel at this year's event. In his right hand is the horn we passed, filled with mead, or honey wine, made locally by a mutual friend. Skylar began the symbel by explaining the reason for it, and the toasts began. My own personal toast in the first round was to Artemis and Pan, Greek Goddess and God who oversee the wild things of nature. As I'm a nature nut and of Greek descent, they seemed most appropriate to me. My husband, who is of Norse descent, lifted the horn to Odin, Thor, and the other Norse deities.

The second round of toasts was to those ancestors we wished to remember. For my son, husband and myself, this was the most emotional moment of the evening. My husband recalled his father and Jason and I my father. Jason had a difficult time getting the words about his grandfather out -- as I did, when it was my turn to lift the horn in his honor.

The third and succeeding rounds of toasts were lots of fun -- many were silly, others very boastful. We downed six bottles of mead during the symbel, which, perhaps, sounds like a lot -- but among 16 of us wasn't, really.

Below is a photo of Skylar and another dear friend, Tony, during the course of passing the horn. Tony is drinking absinthe... another of the Viking vices.

By StarwindE

Finally, the silliest of the evening's photos - Mikal, Brad and Eric in that timeless pose, 'hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil." After the last toasts, things were much sillier, as this well illustrates.


By StarwindE

All in all, the Wyrd of Veternaetur was a wonderful gathering, brining together good friends to celebrate and remember the past as we believe is important each year at this time. Perhaps as you, in your way, celebrate the season -- whether it be Halloween, All Saint's Day, or the Day of the Dead, will pause for a moment too, and remember how days of old inform who and what we are today.

For the butterfly gardener in the land of nearly perpetual sunshine and steamy temperatures, South Florida, it's almost effortless to invite a number of butterfly species to your yard.

For those home gardening lepidopterists it's a matter of knowing what species live in your vicinity, what plants provide nectar for adults and which plants are fodder to the devouring armies of caterpillars you'll often find on them.

Jeffrey Glassberg, Thomas J. Allen and Jim P. Brock have authored a wonderful butterfly field guide series, Butterflies Through Binoculars, providing the amateur and dedicated butterfly aficionado alike with all the information in an easily accessible format. Contained within the pages of the books are color plates illustrating each butterfly and narrative providing detailed information including what type of larval plants attract the butterfly as well as maps illustrating where they are found.

As fans of these jewels of the skies know, butterflies have two simple purposes in their short life: to eat and to mate. All the fluttering you'll observe is aimed toward accomplishing these goals: whether it be to find a flower and sip nectar or to dance their mating rituals to find the right partner.

Illustrated here is the Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, found throughout the state of Florida and south Texas year-round and from January-November in more northern climes.



Both male and female, joined in the ages-old mating process, were photographed just outside the front door of our home. To the left, the newly-emerged female butterfly clasps its pupal casing, the male butterfly -- through a bit of luck and the release of her pheromones into the air -- having found her while she waited for her wings to harden.



While it is difficult to see in the photographs here, butterflies mate abdomen to abdomen, and stay linked often for a lengthy period of time. Many species are observed flying while coupled, the male carrying the female held securely in place by its hind wings.

The result of this mating, of course, is the female taking flight to find plants appropriate for its larvae, through the course of her lifetime she will undergo this process again and again. The Gulf Fritillary butterfly caterpillar eats various species of passion vine including maypops (Passiflora incarnata) and running pop (Passiflora foetida).

Interested in butterfly gardening? Feel free to add questions here as comments on the blog, or via our messaging system.

In the last 5 years or so, we've noticed an increase in the number of Brazilian businesses in the Fort Lauderdale area -- groceries, a television station, small shops. Not surprisingly, Brazilian restaurants have been appearing on the scene as well.

Last weekend we had our first opportunity to dine at one of these establishments, Gaucho Rodizio, which, in promotional materials, bill the restaurant as spreading the "tradition of gaucho-style barbeque." The occasion? The birthday of a good friend.

Gaucho Rodizio is a steakhouse like no other we've ever visited. A pay-one-price, all you can eat establishment (currently $28.50), the repast begins with tiny rolls, very light and airy, with virtually no crumb and then the service begins.

Guests are free to visit the very ample salad bar which features items beyond the usual salad experience. Some selections: various cheeses -- an amazing bleu the evening we were there and one of my favorites, bufalo mozzarella; -- seafoods, including lox with capers, squid rings gently cooked and in a lovely oil/vinegar type marinade, a mixed seafood salad; carpaccio, served with huge capers that was absolutely to die for (one of the two salad bar items I had seconds on); roasted red peppers; potato salad and much more.

A pasta station also awaits the diner, with linguine, penne and angel hair pasta ready for a sauce of your own creation. Simple tell the service person what you'd like in the sauce, and have it prepared in front of you.



But... I leave the very best until last. After your drink orders are taken, the gaucho-dressed servers begin to come to your table. They carry huge skewers of meats which are cut for you, at your plate. Selections included the rump steak shown in the accompanying photo, sirloin, pork tenderloin, chicken, a dense sausage they call "gaucho" sausage, chicken hearts, short ribs, rump steak with (tons of!) garlic, lamb, flank steak and more.

The gauchos continue to bring meats to the table until you begin to groan -- or until you flip over a token at your place which says, "thanks, no more service."

My favorites were the flank and rump steaks, and the lamb. The beef entrees are almost on the rare side of medium rare which, for my hubby and I, is perfect. The lamb was a real treat, and perfectly done. The marinated chicken was delightful - still juicy with a bit of a tang. It was a carnivore's delight, and more meat that we eat in the course of a week. The only complaint we had was that there was more salt used that we're used to - but this was a minor point.

If you still have room after gorging yourself, the dessert cart is steered carefully to your table. Oh, what desserts they had! Cakes, pies, mousse, fresh fruits, flan. Of the two I tried, the flan and the passion fruit mousse, the mousse was the one I'd love to have again - sweet/tart, creamy, fruity.



Our friend Dona was presented with a birthday cupcake, and the staff sang the obligatory "happy birthday." After we all managed to push ourselves away from the table, we adjourned one of our party's homes for a couple of beers and to relax after the huge meal.

If you visit Fort Lauderdale, I highly recommend the Gaucho Rodizio experience. In fact - maybe I'll join you!

As a member of the Community Management team here at LiveWorld, Inc., I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome you to our newest community, SocialVoice.

Here we'll be taking time to listen to your voice. We'd love to know what's on your mind in terms of social media. What features are strongest? How do you put some of the many social media features to use for the company you work for, or clients you work with?

As a Community Manager, I'd love to hear from you on best practices for growing community. What works for you? Should the CM voice be a strong presence, or muted?

Additionally, we'll be sharing a bit of who we are and what we do -- both professionally and personally -- with you. While my colleagues may regularly blog from the business side, you'll often find me talking about slices of my Florida life. I hope to bring a smile to your face or, perhaps, offer you some food for thought.

We hope you'll join us here and share what's on your mind.

Some seven or eight years ago my husband and I spent a fairly long time trying to track down a specific plant required by the caterpillars of the Atala butterfly - the coontie, a native cycad of our area. The Atala was a butterfly we really hoped we could provide habitat for, as it is ranked as an endangered butterfly here, primarily due to habitat destruction.

We finally did find small coontie plants, and got them into the garden, what slow growers they are! At any rate, it didn't seem to matter as, season after season, we saw no evidence that the Atala had found our little coontie patch. A couple of years ago we decided that perhaps the overall habitat in our area wasn't particularly appealing, given its very urban nature.

A few weeks ago Mikal called me to the garden to see a tiny butterfly he found. It seemed to have no interest in flying and we thought it was reaching the end of its life. We put the butterfly on a flower so it could feed, as we always do when we find old or dying lepidoptera; thinking that, at the least, it will die well-fed. After taking a few photos, I headed into the house to determine what kind of butterfly it was.

It was a BIG surprise to discover the beautiful creature was an Atala - and we were both thrilled. You can see her here. At the time I hoped she left some eggs behind, but we were unable to locate any.

Last week, while eating my morning yogurt out on the patio, I spotted something red on the coontie. Success! We found around eight caterpillars, all busily chewing away on the coontie fronds. They're beautifully colored, as you can see in the attached photo.

The caterpillars have started the process of pupating and we're looking forward to the hatching of adult Atalas soon. We're hopeful, too, that the hatchings will mate and leave more eggs - if that happens we know we've been successful in our efforts to help establish another colony of Atalas in south Florida.

This is one of the things that makes our gardening efforts worthwhile, and me very happy. Another gift to Mother Nature!