If you haven't caught on by now - things have been rather busy.

These past few weeks have been a bit rough - being sick, or taking care of a sick kid.

But, back to the grind at getting Autisable relaunched and working on all the various aspects associated with Autisable's vision.

Here's a few things of note at what is going on with Autisable at the moment:

1. Preparing the site for it's relaunch.  We're working on a specific timeline, but don't expect Autisable to be like it once was.  The relaunch will show a very basic site as we get things back in order.  More about Autisable's website upgrades will be announced as we get closer to each part being launched.
2. E-mail newsletters.  YES! we will be bringing about e-mails as a means to bring people more 'insider' news and information. Big kudos to LaNeshe for helping to organize our e-mail campaigns.  We're nearly ready to launch our first e-mail campaign.
3. Giveaways!   I've already been sent many copies of several books that we will be giving away.  It's a small stock pile - and I'm really looking forward to mailing these out.  I can't wait to get things started!
4. Advertisers!  YES!  we are already working very closely with the folks at Guardian Locate - a company that provides GPS tracking devices - which will help aid families track their loved ones who have a tendency to wander - thus saving lives.   We are always looking for new advertisers as well.   I'm currently testing out a couple of their GPS trackers and am already impressed.
5. We are well on our way into developing a show for The Autism Channel.   We will be using segments of our show to help promote Autisable via social media outlets as well.

There's many more things to share - and as we get closer to the inevitable launches - I'll make the necessary announcements.

In Xanga news - John has been working on the long list of suggestions/recommendations that we submitted to him.   It was rather involved - and he also saw the priority of addressing mobile access.

There were a few issues with the servers as well - as the site was down for a short period a couple of days ago due to heavy DDOS attacks.

John is working on an update for the Xanga team blog.

ok... back to the grind....looking forward to actually getting things DONE!

 

 

 

It's been almost a week since Jerry Seinfeld shared that he 'may be somewhere on the Autism spectrum'.

Since then, much of the Autism community at large is rather positive about him sharing his own revelation.

Many Organizations are praising Mr. Seinfeld for his comments regarding himself and Autism, and hope that it may help remove the stigma associated with being on the spectrum.   Along with these organizations are rather respected and prominent individuals within the community - from other Adults with Autism, to Parents of Children who are on the spectrum.

The challenge, however, is that there are those within the community who see Mr. Seinfeld's comments and 'coming out' as Autistic as a watering down of Autism.

Some have even resorted to name-calling and have thus resorted to online bullying - calling Mr. Seinfeld a liar, awaiting his 'official diagnosis'.

There is a sad sense of irony here - that the very people who demand respect and equality - aren't giving it themselves.

There's a deeper issue within the community that goes beyond Mr. Seinfeld's self-diagnosis.   This issue is something that we all need to think about...

For the past 6 years I've read online at least 30 Parents who have reached their emotional limit and have committed the most heinous act there is - that of killing their own children.

We blame the Parents for not getting the help, the parents blame the system for not having services in place to help them with their child...

But what does the community do?   We sit back - unable to look beyond our own selfish motives - and lay blame at the mother or father who kills their kid.

Each article I've read echo's the same story where the parent is at their wits end - not knowing what to do.   They don't know where to reach out to get help, and if they did - they couldn't afford it - or couldn't identify where even to start.    Each article discusses friends and family who didn't have a clue... even friends within the community couldn't have seen it coming.

But what does the community do?  We blame the parent, we blame the system....  we call these acts atrocious... but do nothing, and these horrendous things happen again ... and again...

This deep issue resides within our own selfishness to protect our own children - forgetting that there are millions of children and adults who are going through the same thing.

Each person with Autism has their own set of challenges and struggles - and Parents are just trying to hang on, fighting to get whatever services we can to help our children become the best that they can be.

With Autism being a Spectrum disorder - this means that each individual has their own complicated set of issues that they have had to deal with their entire lives.

Mr. Seinfeld may be on the spectrum, he may not... but he identifies with the markers, which seems to have helped him understand himself.

Should we rebuke him as a community in the same way that our own children have been rebuked and chided for how they behave in public?

Should we water down his self-diagnosis because it doesn't fit within the constraints of what our children are going through?

If we do so, how would we be helping to spread Autism awareness and understanding?

I submit, therefore, that ignoring and demeaning Mr. Seinfeld's self-diagnosis is akin to ignoring and demeaning anyone who identify's themselves as being on the Autism Spectrum.

We are responsible to listen to those who need help - from the parents - to those who reside on the Autism Spectrum.   If we don't listen to their voice, to their cries for help... then we are just as responsible for those lost as the Parents who reached their wits end.

I commend Mr. Seinfeld for seeing that he 'may be somewhere on the spectrum'.   The fact that he shared this also means that he will get all the positive and negative issues associated with being on the Spectrum.   Hopefully he will be encouraged by the community, and I hope that he will continue his support of Autism awareness efforts that have already helped many people and organizations.

I believe that we are to always encourage one another in our journey.   To do otherwise is demeaning and selfish.

Let's just say a lot has been happening these past couple of weeks.

From my son being sick, to me catching whatever he had - let's add the fact that a pillow has been my friend for at least a few days - along with my voice being almost gone due to all the coughing.

So today I'm finally getting back to e-mails and comments and catching up on things...

In regards to Xanga:

- I received word from John that he's been addressing many of the priorities that we presented to him.   He's also included mobile access on the list.  He'll provide an update covering some of the issues and would love some feedback as well.

- We're always open for posts to be shared on Xanga's facebook page.  So, have a Xanga account and want some more subscribers?   Share a link!

In regards to Autisable:

- We're still pushing forward on obtaining content for the series for The Autism Channel.
- I'm excited that Noah Guthrie has already sent in his video's for one of our episodes.   Here's Noah with his cover of Sam Smith's song, "Stay With Me"

 

- A lot more going on with Autisable that I wish I could just share now... but still need to follow up and confirm a few things before I can make some serious announcements.

That all being said, I received an invite to Ello from a friend of mine, and am testing it out....  https://ello.co/autisable

 

Yesterday I was supposed to have a meeting with some business consultants.  But, I had to cancel - as Short Stack caught that crazy bug going around.

The meeting will be rescheduled soon enough - as there's still plenty of things to put in place.

I'm happy to report that Autisable Live - a show to highlight artists and non-profits that support and encourage the autism community - is moving forward rather well.

The show will be available on The Autism Channel.

IF you have a ROKU media stream player or Panasonic Smart TV, you should be able to get THE AUTISM CHANNEL on your device.  The folks at The Autism Channel are also making their programming available on even more devices in the future... so STAY TUNED!

We have plenty of artists to be a part of the series - so my focus lately has been to get video from non-profits.

I'm very grateful to Michael Copon and his studios, along with Spectra Music Group and a few artists already working with us to make this happen.

In other news,  John is working on an update.

As always, feel free to share your thoughts and ideas on how to improve Xanga 2.0 in the comments below, or on Xanga's facebook page.

IF you have any questions regarding your specific account - please e-mail 'help@xanga.net'.

Until next update....

 

In the coming weeks I will have a major announcement about Autisable.

For those who have been reading this blog for awhile, I think you can guess what that announcement is going to be.  :)

At this time, however, I've been dealing with paperwork - e-mails and phone calls... and it's just beginning.

What I can share at this time is that while we are updating the main website - we are not stopping the discussion of Autism.

Here are a few snippets of what we've been up to so far... (looking forward to sharing more...)

1 - developing a series for The Autism Channel that will highlight artists and non-profits that benefit the community at a local level

2 - partnered with Michael Copon Studios to make this series possible.  Michael Copon was on One Tree Hill, was the Blue Power Ranger, and has been a part of several movies and TV shows.  Michael and Wiam are co-hosts of the series we are developing.

3 - we have partnered with Guardian Locate as our primary sponsor of the series.  Guardian Locate provides an affordable solution for parents and caregivers to track their loved ones who wander.

4 - we're finalizing the content for the first three episodes of the series, which we'll release on The Autism Channel in the coming months.

5 - working on getting Autisable.com back online.

6 - keeping the discussion going about autism on our social media outlets.

There's much more I'd love to share, but these are just the top points at the moment.  Will share more as I can - and of course when we're ready for the announcement - I'll be sharing that as well!

Stay tuned!

 

Ok folks, here's a few updates to keep you up to date on the latest stuff in my corner of the web... as if the web had actual corners...

John got a detailed update from everyone's response, and has been talking with a couple of folks and will respond soon.

But as he's working on things, and getting ready to respond - there are some common questions I can easily address...

These are the most common issues that have surfaced this past week on Xanga's FB page -

First - IF you have any questions regarding your specific account - please e-mail 'help@xanga.net' with what is going on.  Include your username and e-mail associated with the account.   This goes for upgrading your account, finding your archives, or just accessing your account in general.    I don't handle the accounts, that's the job of The Xanga Team.

Keep in mind that if you haven't upgraded your account, you may not see your blog posts.  However, you should have access to your archives.   If you don't have access to your archives, then e-mail 'help@xanga.net'.

If you are wanting to stay upgraded, be sure to e-mail Eugenia at 'Help@xanga.net' with your information.  You should get another 6 months for free.

Please know that new accounts are not yet available on Xanga at this time.  However, if you have an account on Xanga - but would like to upgrade it - e-mail 'help@xanga.net'.

Second - In regards to functionality of your account - realize we are all on the same page.   If you can't find something right now, it just may not yet be available.  But please don't assume that someone has already shared that something needs to happen... speak up!  Share your perspective... we welcome your input.    Personally I'd rather have 50 people tell me that we need better commenting and private messaging - then no one speaking up and no feedback was given from the community at all.  BTW - better commenting and private messaging are just a couple of items brought to John's attention - along with dealing with the main page and the comments on the Xanga team's blog "awaiting moderation".

Third - I'm here to make sure John and the Xanga Team receive clearly what the Community wants and needs.   In short, I'm not a Xanga employee, but just a Xangan in a position to help facilitate communication.   If you have complaints, that's ok - I pass those along.  My purpose is to ensure that John and the Xanga team are getting the message.   The aspect of facilitating the communication is to make sure we are moving forward - and that the community and the Xanga team are understanding where everyone is at.

Those are just the top discussions going on this past week.  Feel free to chime in with any more input at anytime here - or on Xanga's Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/xanga

Have a great day!

Many may disagree with what I'm about to share.  But I think some may find it refreshing.

I do a lot with Autisable and Xanga in regards to Social Media.   I've even helped out other companies with their social media as well.

From setting up accounts for businesses, to training the people that use those accounts.

Many people that know me, ask for advice on what should be done in certain situations - from strategy on use of Social Media - to handling tough situations.
Let's just say that after ten years of Blogging and doing Social Media.... I've come across just about everything you can think about... and then some.

I still come across new situations - and that's what makes being on Social media interesting.

But that's not what I think some folks may disagree with.... especially people who do social media for a living.

Here's where we may part ways in terms of Business PR and strategy in regards to handling tough situations....

Many companies have taken the stance that when a customer leaves a negative comment thread - to take that thread offline... and delete the thread.
Now, overall I understand that idea.   They want to address the customers needs privately, and that's ok.  It also shows a lot of positive comments on websites and social media outlets putting a company easily in the best light.

The challenge with this is that you get some negative feedback from those who saw the negative thread to begin with.   The mumblings of negativity are now under the radar - beyond the reach of corporate view - not allowing for anyone to see what's 'really' going on with a company - or with how the company treats it's customers.

However, what about that negative comment still left on the site - or social media outlet?    What really needs to be done with that?

Personally, I say leave it.   It's their words, and in my opinion when you delete their comment - it can be akin to censorship.   Of course, if there's foul or inappropriate language - then at least you (and everyone that see's that comment) knows how strongly they felt about a situation.

Think about this as well - sometimes negative comments bring traffic to a site and/or a more people to a discussion. Now you can delete the comment thread from your site and/or your social media outlets... or use it as a tool to put your company in the best light.

So let's say you leave the person's negative comment on the site - what should you do?

Address the person directly, listening to their issues, responding appropriately to the situation.  Offering to help where you can, and coming to a resolution that both sides can be happy with.  Serving a customer may mean a bit of compromise to make them happy.   And we all know that a happy customer is a repeat customer...   but beyond that... these are people sharing their stories and getting personally involved in your business... so it's really about building a relationship with them.

Who knows, they may have a seriously valid issue on how business is being conducted - and it could be a valuable insight on how to improve your business.   No one is perfect, so getting feedback from customers in how things are being handled could be extremely enlightening to those making the decisions.   Also, if the discussion is more 'public' - and you are able to handle the situation well - then everyone knows what happened... that the customer was treated with respect to a bad situation - and the company handled it well.

How many times do we see internet meme's with good customer service being handled via chat room screen pics?   I know I've seen some good ones.   They are good to read, and worth noting on how well bad situations can become a time for a company to shine.

Once the situation is mutually resolved - then ask the person who made the comment to respond to it again - or at least reply back that we've touch base with this customer directly - showing that the business is listening - and responding to as many issues as possible.   An attempt at an open and public response should be expected on both sides.

Knowing that a business is listening, even if they are having their own challenges on resolving issues at the moment - is far better than nothing being said by the company.   Deleting a comment thread because of a negative response can also be a message to the customer - telling them to 'shut-up'.

Embrace the challenge of building relationships with people who provide their feedback.   Their honesty will help you fill the gaps where improvement is needed/required.

I've always found the following to be a good starting point when doing social media:  "Be open, be honest, be social."

Now, do you agree or disagree with what I've just shared?    Feel free to leave a comment...   Don't worry, I won't be offended.

 

This past week has been busy, to say the least.

Being Community Liaison has already been pretty interesting, but the real work is just getting started - and it's not about me... or John and the Team.   It's about the Community.  I see myself as a facilitator - providing a means that extra information can be organized and shared - so that decisions can be made and action taken.

Now, I've shared with John a few things already - and will be talking with him again soon.   He will respond with a blog post based upon our discussions so as to keep the process going.

Please keep the ideas and suggestions coming - and of course if you have an interest in actually helping - even better!

In other news...

Autisable is still moving forward.   I've been meeting with consultants and my CPA this week to create a company.   We have already been working with an advertiser who is promoting Autisable's social media channels, and wants to be a part of Autisable's show for The Autism Channel.  There are a couple of more advertisers showing interest as well.

We will always be on the lookout for more advertisers.

From writing a book to trying to get back into shape... life is still rather busy - even without a regular job.

That being said, I'm always on the look out for a good opportunity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm rather humbled by John and the Team asking me to be a Community Liaison.   After all, it's quite an undertaking.

However, as I've met many folks here on Xanga, and have connected with them both on this site and many others - including making many new friends... I look forward to helping facilitate some communication to get things started.

Hopefully we can do this together... all of us.

Since today is Thursday, let's venture with a little #tbt with what has happened this past year....

On September 3, 2013 - John shared The Four Phases of the Xanga 2.0 Launch.

It's been rather quiet for a year, and I know many of you are very frustrated at the lack of communication from the team.

My goal here is to address where we are at, and what we need to do to keep the process going forward with better communication.

So lets shake the dust off a bit from this past year and get ready to move forward...

First - let's go over the Four Phases of the Xanga 2.0 Launch:

Phase 1 was Data Migration - this has been taken care of - and is manageable

Phase 2 was site tuning - this has been taken care of - and is also manageable

Phase 3 is Feature Prioritization - basic features have been launched - but it's time to expand

Phase 4 is Building Together - where we take Xanga to the next level.

With the site now migrated over, and as John explained some of the challenges with that and site tuning - we're now moving towards feature prioritization and building Xanga together.

But before we continue - we first have to make sure one issue is addressed.
This issue has been at the core of many of conversations I've been a part of for the past couple of years - and it needs to be discussed...

 

The issue is communication.

The past couple of weeks I've been able to talk and e-mail with John directly - and these channels of communication will remain.

The lack of communication this past year has been the biggest pain point with an overwhelming number of Xangans.

I've received many messages, e-mails, and even a phone call or two - asking what in the world is going on.

Comments on Xanga group pages on Facebook, and even on this blog have expressed everything from extreme frustration and anger, to sympathetic understanding.  Suffice it to say, I've seen - heard - read - and understand where we are at - and can see why some in the community have already decided to call it quits and just move on.

I respect their decision - and want to say that the door remains open.

I appreciate John's openness about what has been happening, and his passion to really keep Xanga moving forward.   He agreed, even in his blog update, that the lack of communication on some key areas is where they dropped the ball.

It's in this area that we need to improve first - and the first steps have already been made.

We will be talking to each other regularly to make sure that he gets a clear and concise picture of what the community wants - so we can all coordinate together on the usage of resources.

So, the ball is in our court, so to speak.  It's up to us to make Xanga what we want it to become.   I've shared this concept in the past...

s0 yeah, I know it's been awhile - but we're finally at that next step.

Now this doesn't mean that we can immediately change things at the moment... but it does mean that we can start organizing our thoughts as a collective - and start prioritizing what is next needed.

So, being that John and I are able to talk directly with each other and will regularly discuss what's going on, etc...  what's next?

How we communicate with each other as a community.

Now, I could have had everyone just e-mail me their thoughts, ideas and interests - but when you send a message out to millions of folks - even just 21,000 people... and only 1% responds that way... that's a couple of hundred e-mails to sort through... many of which could be of a similar topic.  Also, that's a lot of time to devote to such a thing - and therefore rather inefficient.   It's also not community centric.

So I proposed to John that anyone can reach me here on Xanga at this blog - or via Xanga's Facebook page.

I'd like to keep the discussion as open as possible - allowing this to be a fully collaborative approach.

I know many folks do not have a facebook account.  That's why I'm offering up my blog here on Xanga as a means for you to reach out to me.
I check my blog regularly - so you'd get a response in a decent amount of time.  So feel free to leave a comment.

For those that do have a facebook account - you can leave a comment - or send a message to Xanga's facebook page.
We've added a forums app to Xanga's facebook page - and we'll be expanding the usage of the forum as we get a sense of where we need to prioritize.

Since we are reorganizing our efforts, I thank you in advance for your patience.

There may be some rough patches here and there - but we're all working towards a common goal - to make Xanga 2.0 better.

If you have interest, or are still interested in helping out - feel free to leave a comment.  Also, if you have a preference on what needs to be focused on next in terms of functionality - please share.  Many people have already responded - and I've listed their ideas and suggestions below.

If you have a question or comment regarding your specific xanga account, I will ask that you e-mail help@xanga.net with your xanga username and e-mail address associated with the account.  Please allow some time for the Team to respond as I'm sure we will be sending a lot of fellow Xangans to that e-mail address in the coming days and weeks.

So... where would you like to help out?

From another previous Xanga Team Blog post - here are some ideas....

"* Spam fighters: to help us fight spammers and remove spam

* Themers: to help us design or find gorgeous themes to make available to all

* Plugin developers: to help us develop and deploy new features

* Plugin evangelists: to help us find and test new plugins

* Jury members and Judges: to help us resolve abuse complaints

* Helpers: to help members with customer service

* Documentation writers: to help us write up world-class documentation for the site.

 

Volunteers would receive free Xanga blogging memberships that they could gift to friends, and our most active volunteers would be invited to join our decision-making bodies.

* A product council: to prioritize product development efforts

* A frontpage council: to figure out the best way to promote member content"

 

 

So, let us move forward and see what happens... 

 

-----------------

Since John's Update - I've received some of the following suggestions (in no particular order):

• add a page for subscribers to pay their annual subscription fees, including a link from their account.
• ability to create a new account on the site. (right now this is done manually after someone pays)
• what can be done to extend people's accounts by six months automatically (rather than e-mail Eugenia at help@xanga.net)
• Private messages between users
• the ability to modify a blogs look and feel (themes)
• improved 'real-time' comments (giving the xanga-esque social media feel)
• ability to sign in and or connect via social media sites like facebook and/or twitter to comment and or blog.

 

 

 

When I was a kid, my Dad and I would work on model trains.

It was something we did together, as an effort to create those bonding moments between a father and son.

The placing of each track, each building... creating an entire imaginary world... each grouping of buildings being given a name like a town.
Every nook and cranny a little story on the large Model railroad set.

We even belonged to a Model Railroad club that had a very large train set that was at the county fairgrounds.

Years later, the train set and club moved to another location in a different town, and my Dad is across the country from where I live, and life has led me to this point in time.

That train set at the fairgrounds was created and worked on for many years.  Each section of track meticulously placed, each building painted and aged to look almost real.

It was an epic train set that ended up being featured in Model Railroader Magazine in October 1988.

The amount of patience these men had was immense.

I was just a kid wanting to play with the trains, wanting to see them speed along.

After time I realized it wasn't about speeding along.  It wasn't about "getting it done"...

The train set was continually being worked on, being updated, being modified.   It was a never ending process.

Before I moved away with my family across country, I wanted to learn how to create the buildings - the bridges - and age a train with the right technique.

One bridge was immense, built out of small sticks -not much bigger than toothpicks - but was several feet high and several feet wide.

Watching trains cross that bridge was something I learned to not take for granted.  After all, everything was handcrafted on that bridge... and the backdrop of a mountain and canyon could make the image of this train traveling in such a way that when camera took a picture of it... it looked very real.

I learned that in order to appreciate the trains running, I had to first appreciate the time and effort in it being built.

With trains it is about the journey.  It's about riding the rails and enjoying the moments that pass before the window.

I remember actually riding the train from Southern California up to Northern California along the coast.

There's nothing quite like sitting on a railcar, looking out the window, and watching the Pacific Coast sunset.

I learned that life is in the journey, and our destination is only a distant plan that we are working towards.

Appreciate what you have.  It's amazing how something considered so small and insignificant, can become something so incredible.

It's been a couple of decades since I've seen a good Model Railroad set, or have travelled in a train.

But those experiences provided a different perspective on the appreciation of the moment.

Life is, after all, a series of moments.

I hope you have enjoyed this one.