The Winter-Spring City of Santa Cruz Parks & Recreation catalog arrived today! Get ready to start 2012 with information and inspiration about Marketing, Website planning, and Social Media. In January and February 2012 I’m teaching (and co-teaching) three classes with two of my favorite collaborators, Kathryn Gorges and Karen Kefauver.

If you receive the paper catalog, our classes are listed on page 34. You can also view our classes online here. All will be held at NextSpace, 101 Cooper Street, downtown Santa Cruz.

Online registration opens on Tuesday, January 3 at 8am. Here are the steps to find our classes online (or register by calling the Parks & Rec office at 831-420-5270 Monday-Thursday).

>> Click on the right side blue box “Register NOW with instaReg”
>> Click on “Register for Programs”
>> Click on the left side “Special Interest”
>> Click on “Show Courses” under each of the following class titles:

• ABC’s of Your Marketing Makeover, Tuesday, January 31, 6:30-9:30pm, $79.
• ABC’s of Planning Your New or Revamped Website, Tuesday, February 7, 6:30-9:30 pm, $79.
• ABC’s of Integrating Social Media with your Website, Tuesday, February 21, 6:30-9:30 pm, $79.

Read the class descriptions here. If you have any questions, contact me here.

Website: http://saraisenberg.com
Blog: http://saraisenberg.com/blog
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SaraIsenbergConsulting <= Visit & click “LIKE”
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/saraisenberg
Twitter: @saraisenberg
About.me: http://about.me/saraisenberg

Two great 1-evening classes coming up June 14 and 21. Register online at City of Santa Cruz Parks & Rec or call 831-420-5270. http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/index.aspx?page=540

1. Get the Best Online “Local Search” Results! Tue, June 14, 6:30-9:30pm at NextSpace. $68 for one evening class. #14476
2. Before You Hire Your Web Designer or Developer! Tue, June 21, 6:30-9:30pm at NextSpace. $68 for one evening class. #14475

Details:

Thank you for attending the Santa Cruz Parks & Rec class Build a Free Blog or Website with WordPress.com – For Beginners on October 12, 2010.

1. My presentation is available for viewing or downloading here:
MyPresi-Oct12-2010 [PDF]

2. I’ll be teaching How to Prepare for Your Website Overhaul (or New Website) on Tuesday, January 25, 2011.

3. I’ll be teaching Expand Your Reach with Social Media (with co-instructor Karen Kefauver) on Tuesday, February 1, 2011.

4. I’ll be teaching ABCs of SEO — Basics of Search Engine Optimization (with co-instructor, SEO expert, Steve Penny) on Tuesday, February 15, 2011.

5. I’ll be teaching this class – Build a Free Blog or Website with WordPress.com – For Beginners — again on Tuesday, March 1, 2011.

All of my upcoming classes will be listed on this page. Links will be provided when Santa Cruz Parks & Rec is ready for registration:
http://saraisenberg.com/upcoming-classes/

Thanks!
Sara
Website: http://saraisenberg.com
Blog: http://saraisenberg.com/blog
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SaraIsenbergConsulting
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/saraisenberg
Twitter: @saraisenberg

There are some great events coming up in Santa Cruz this week, Oct 2-6, 2010:

1. Freelance Camp Santa Cruz is this Saturday, October 2, 2010 It’s a one-day unconference on how to run a better freelance or small service business.  Learn more about Freelance Camps in general here: http://freelancecamp.org/ and Register for THIS Santa Cruz camp here: http://freelancecampsc2010.eventbrite.com/
2. What’s Next Lectures is Tuesday, October 5^th 7 PM at the Rio Theater in downtown Santa Cruz.  This event will feature Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, and Sarah Lacy, award-winning author and columnist for TechCrunch. Details http://whatsnextlectures.com/.  Purchase tickets here: http://researchanddevelopment.eventbrite.com/
3. Santa Cruz New Tech Meetup is Wednesday, October 6th at 6:30 PM. Details are here: http://www.meetup.com/santacruznewtech/calendar/14772126/

See you there!

Thanks for attending the Santa Cruz Parks & Rec class Expand Your Reach With Social Media on September 28, 2010!

“Excellent class that covered alot in a short amount of time. Thanks Sara and Karen!  This should be a required coarse for anyone starting or managing a small business!”
Maggie Ann Johnson Barr

1. My presentation is available for viewing or downloading here:
MyPresi-Sept28-2010 [PDF]

2. Karen’s presentation will be posted here:
http://socialmediawithkaren.blogspot.com

3. If you’re interested in registering for my Build a Blog or Website with WordPress.com class on October 12, 2010, 6:30 PM – 9:30 PM, register at Santa Cruz Parks & Rec.

4. Karen and I will co-teach Expand Your Reach with Social Media again on Tuesday, February 1, 2011, 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm. Tell your friends and colleagues. As soon as the registration is available, I’ll post a link — on my Facebook Page, under => Events.

5. I also plan to teach the Build a Blog or Website with WordPress.com again on Tuesday, March 1, 2011, 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm. (Not to confuse you but I may rename it Intro to WordPress.com for Free Website or Blog.) As soon as the registration is available, I’ll post a link — on my Facebook Page, under => Events.

Thanks!
Sara
Website: http://saraisenberg.com
Blog: http://saraisenberg.com/blog
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SaraIsenbergConsulting
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/saraisenberg
Twitter: @saraisenberg

10/2/2010 Update:
►►►Read about the upcoming classes that I’m teaching!

Time to register! I am teaching two classes for Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation:

1. Expand Your Reach with Social Media (co-teaching with Karen Kefauver)
Tuesday, September 28, 6:30-9:30 PM at NextSpace, 101 Cooper St., Santa Cruz
We will explore how to use social media for promotion. The focus will be on the most popular tools, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and blogging. You’ll learn how to better promote your website and how to increase your online presence even if you don’t have a website. The class is for beginners and will focus on Social Media basics for businesses, nonprofits, freelancers and entrepreneurs.

Register at Santa Cruz Parks & Recreation:
http://www2.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/instareg/Activities/ActivitiesDetails.asp?ProcessWait=N&aid=986

2. Build a Blog or Website with WordPress
Tuesday, October 12, 6:30-9:30 PM at NextSpace, 101 Cooper St., Santa Cruz
We will explore blogging for beginners, including:
* Why blog, anyway?
* Using blogging to bring visibility to your business or nonprofit.
* What if I’m not really a writer?
* Create an easy-to-use, simple, free blog or website.
Class includes a live demonstration showing how to set up your own blog or website at WordPress.com.

I love it when colleagues share their technical tips and resources! This is the beauty of the Geek List and the NextSpace List in action.

Chris Burbridge, friend and colleague at Nextspace, just shared the following tips and resources for improving MacBook Pro performance.

Chris wrote:

If your Mac has begun to slow…

I began to get frustrated … my 2 1/2 -year-old beloved MacBook Pro began to get slower and slower … Of course, since everything’s supposed to be so automatic on the Mac, it was a bit hard to get data on what was going on.

• First, I found this product Clean My Mac, which cleans out lots of log files and junk … it seemed to make a marked improvement in the performance again. (http://macpaw.com/cleanmymac)
• Then, I found this post the other day on StumbleUpon – http://simplestation.com/locomotion/speed-up-mac-os-x-leopard/ . Lots of good little tips …
• Foremost of which, and by far the best tip yet, was to get iDefrag (http://www.coriolis-systems.com/iDefrag.php), which defragged my 180GB hard drive over a period of several hours …

My Mac is back to normal! This definitely improves my professional life substantially. Makes a huge difference.

I had to share this.
Chris

Thanks for sharing, Chris!

I spent the day at Freelance Camp PRO at NextSpace in San Francisco yesterday. It’s 24 hours later and I still have the buzz.

For those that don’t know:

Freelance Camp is a place to discuss and explore the different approaches to running a successful freelance business / service company. We have based our events on the Barcamp format, which is a network of user generated participatory events whose content is fully provided by the participants. Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is welcome and invited to join.

Was it worth the time? Yes. Why?

• It felt like an historic event — first <something> at NextSpace SF — and we were there!
• I enjoyed getting to know my NextSpace Santa Cruz comrades more than I already did, in a relaxed atmosphere, both in the carpool and in the camp. During a typical workday, I’m usually rushing or optimizing or focused. It was fun to be at this event without my laptop (I left that at home on purpose) and without my work so I could focus on people, topics, and reflect on work, not do work.
• I enjoyed that there were two kinds of people in the room: those I recognized and those I didn’t. I felt like I belonged — to my Santa Cruz NextSpace tribe, that is, those I recognized. Thanks for being there Eric, Jorie, Mike, Iris, Jermy (new name from Mike), other Sara, Shane, Peter, Chris, Chris, Vania, Pat, Paul, and others. I’m forgetting some names.
• It was great to meet the BarCamp newbies and see their eyes light up seeing the whole camp in process. These were strangers from SF and I recalled how pivotal the first Freelance Camp in Santa Cruz was for our community. Actually, that was historic.
• It was interesting to hear about other freelancers’ struggles and successes, tips and hints, wisdom. I’m sure I learned something, or several things, but mostly I felt inspired and grateful and entertained.
• Great freebies. That’s S.W.A.G. Not, Schwag.
• Yummy lunch in the restaurant downstairs.

Looking forward to Freelance Camp Santa Cruz on October 2, 2010!

One of my favorite lecture series continues in June…

What’s Next’s June 24, 2010 lecture will be about “The Future of Work.”

Panelists include best-selling author Rom Brafman, Joyce Shimizu, VP of Innovation at Plantronics, and Fabio Rosati, CEO of Elance (invited). Sandy Skees, CEO of Communications4Good will moderate.

For more info, go to http://whatsnextlectures.com/

To get your ticket go to http://whatsnextlectures-work.eventbrite.com/

See you there!

[One big bummer is that this event conflicts with Nina K. Simon's Santa Cruz workshop and lecture on design for participation which also takes place on the evening of June 24. So, some of you, go there. For more on that, see http://museumtwo.tumblr.com/post/56982357/presentations-and-conferences. To learn more about Nina, go to http://www.museumtwo.blogspot.com/]

I proud to say I work at NextSpace in downtown Santa Cruz.  See why it’s so great!

NextSpace: 1 Year of Success in an Economic Downturn from NextSpace Coworking on Vimeo.