Today’s Honey: July 31, 2008
I think this girl is a hoot. Today’s Honey video is in honor of tomorrow, which is National Girlfriends Day. Ladies, it can be tough being a girl sometimes, right?
The 7 Things Guys Don’t Have to Do:
Breaking News: Amanda is an Embarrassing Person
When Hanson came onto the scene, I was the audience for that crap. I am actually younger than the youngest Hanson. And now, the Jonas Brothers have filled that void. Let’s call them Hanson 2.0. There is absolutely no reason I should like this. But I do.
I am such a loser… Enjoy:
Bringing Healthy Back: beYOU.tv
I spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen. Let’s call it 98% of my day. And that time is spent sitting, probably slouching, and sometimes eating. Now that I’ve admitted I’m a complete slob at life, I’d like to talk about a site I just joined that may change some of that.
beYOU.tv is one of the rare healthy places on the Internet that isn’t all talk. It’s the kind of site that teaches you about fitness, encourages you to better yourself, and gives you tools that’ll get you off the couch and toning yourself up. It’s one part fitness and wellness motivator, one part social network, and one part health resource. The more I’m peeking around the site, the more I like their style.
In the past, during my brief, half-assed attempts at living a fitness-oriented lifestyle, I had used FitDay.com to journal my caloric intake and output, and avoid entering the weight data that pretty much never changed. I found the site useful, but it wasn’t motivating and it wasn’t serving as a place for me to find answers to questions or learn new ways to spice up my workouts. beYOU.tv has that. The site encourages you to “Be Healthalicious!” which to be honest, makes me feel like there’s someone on the other site of my computer who wants me to feel good about myself. I think this is a fantastic tag line–it isn’t telling me to shed pounds, it isn’t saying to look a certain way–it’s telling me to feel the way it feels when you’ve gotten into a healthy routine. And that’s a great feeling.
One feature I find really cool is the variety of workout videos available on here. You can check out tons of workouts, from bootcamps to pilates to ab blasts to dance routines and pretty much everything in between. I like that it isn’t a one-size-fits-all site, and it gives you lots of different ways to kickstart or refresh your workout routine. I’m the kind of person who gets bored easily in the gym, so this feature is right up my alley.
Another great aspect here is the beYOU.tv Magazine. For a fitness imbecile like me, it’s great to see advice from a bunch of different people in a forum where anyone can comment and have a voice. Articles range from “Change Your Mood with Food” to “Fit, Not Frail: Exercise as a Tonic for Aging,” and it’s set up in a way that isn’t intimidating or inaccessible. The focus is on improving life, and I think that’s sexy.
A few more cool things about beYOU.tv: it has listings for more than 100,000 fitness centers so you can find a place to work out, and you can download any of the videos and store them on your iPod or other mp3 player, hook them up to your TV, etc. Plus, aside from all the great workout videos, they have cooking videos for a healthy diet, too.
Look, we all could probably stand to stare at our computers less and live our lives a bit healthier and more active. Look at Jason Falls–his twit2fit lifestyle change project is totally inspiring! So, that’s it–with inspiring people and a motivation resource center at my fingertips, there’s no excuse for me not to get healthalicious. I am in no way about to blog what my scale says each morning, but I hope some of you join me in checking out beYOU.tv and maybe get a little healthier because of it.
Let’s bring healthy back.
Saturday in Amandaland
Was your Saturday better? I doubt it.
Vator.tv is Startup Heaven
I recently stumbled across Vator.tv, which is essentially a social network for startups. The tag line here is “What’s your pitch?” The twists are that Vator really does focus on the network aspect, it’s a place to legitimately announce and share news, and you’re encouraged to upload homestyle video. There are layers of participation, and it’s hopping with great ideas and talent.
A lot of up-and-comers are on here like Zivity, EveryZing, Vivaty, Xoopit and thousands of others. You can browse startups by categories ranging from Green Technologies to Lifestyle & Travel, Internet Video to SaaS. It’s interesting to see what’s going on out there in terms of entrepreneurial endeavors and to then see CEO videos with a boiled-down attitude, sharing enthusiasm, news and wisdom.
I recently spoke with Vator.tv CEO Bambi Francisco, who took me around the different parts of the site and got me excited about how this could be a really innovative tool for startups. From my talk with 
Bambi, I saw that Vator is super passionate about connecting entrepreneurs, VCs, publicists, etc. with the right people to get businesses exposure in front of audiences who are seeking what they’re saying, sharing, and selling.
If you’re working at a startup, I recommend that you check this site out. Fill out a profile, convince your CEO that uploading some sincere, off-the-cuff videos about your brand and vision are worthwhile, and invite people to your network. Chances are you’ll connect with other folks (who says ‘folks’?) who may become influential in your success. You may even learn lessons from others who are in the same boat, navigating your same choppy seas. At SHIFT I work with several emerging businesses, and I feel that sharing the energy you find at a startup (like what happens at Web Inno and similar events) in one place is so cool.
Is your startup on this site? Invite me to your network!
Twitter is Broken for Me… Grrr
So apparently Twitter is working for everyone but me right now. I’m not thrilled. Twitter is being bad. I’d prefer it to be good. I guess my thing this week is making horrible little videos. See me grrr:
TotSpot and InternshipRatings.com at Web Inno 18
I was gabbing a lot at Web Inno last night, so I didn’t have too much time to take video. Luckily, I did manage to capture Michael from TotSpot and the Lauren/Stephanie dynamic duo of InternshipRatings.com with the Flip.
TotSpot is a scrapbook-like social site that allows parents to safely share all things “my cute kids” with friends and family. I obviously only got a really brief overview, but the site seems cute and certainly of interest to new and eternally excited parents. Thinking back to some of the choice photos from my early teen years, I’m thinking my parents would totally use this site to blackmail me… But oh, how I would get them back. Check the footage:
InternshipRatings.com wasn’t presenting at the event, but I’ve really enjoyed seeing Lauren Grunstein and Stephanie Gurtman, two Boston University students, take an idea and run with it over the past year. I met these two at last year’s PodCamp Boston 2 and since then they’ve launched their site and are seeing a fantastic level of participation from students across the country. The premise is that students go on this site and rate/tell all about their internship experiences at various companies across various industries. The site also serves as an advice hub for students curious about internships and career paths. Take a look:
This post can also be found on SHIFT’s blog http://snackablepr.com. (And yes, it’s important to know what people’s favorite snacks are.)
How I Felt About Web Inno 18
This is so video diary-esque, but I wanted to say loud and proud that I had a fantastic time at Web Inno 18 and definitely plan to attend more of these events. As I say in the video (which is long-winded and in which I think I say “psyched” about 17.4 times), I just love the energy around emerging businesses and startups in this space and I had a blast seeing it all in action tonight. Special thanks to my rockin’ client 211(me) for letting me loiter at their table and help explain their personalized mobile mashup service to interested passersby.
Web Innovators Group, you are teh cool.
[UPDATE: Allen Stern has alerted me that beyond saying “psyched” too much, I also say “you know” roughly 10,934 times in this video. Thanks for the heads up, Allen. This is why I don’t make many videos…]
Minutes…
This is the only time you’ll get these minutes. Are you doing what you want, or at least what you need to do to get where you’d like to be?
